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BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



THE SHEPHERD KING 12mo. NET, $1.00 



tEfie ^eb3 €ta Hecturesfitp, Winibtv^itp ot 
g>outf)ern Calitornia— jFir«t g>eriej« 



Evangelism in the 

Remaking of the 

World 



By ^ . 

ADNA WRIGHT LEONARD ^^^ 
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 




THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 






Copyright, 1919, by 
ADNA WEIGHT LEONARD 



OCI -3 !9iy 






- a 



i 



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i 

i 



To My Devoted Wife 
MARY L. DAY 

WHOSE SYMPATHETIC INTEREST AND HELPFUL 

COUNSEL HAVE ENCOURAGED ME IN 

THIS UNDERTAKING 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Foreword 9 

I. The Preacher and Evangelism. 13 

11. Evangelism and Young People. 43 

^ III. Evangelism in Church Music. . . 69 

IV. Evangelism in Social Service.. 101 

V. Evangelism in the Sunday Night 

Service 135 

V VI. Safeguards of Evangelism 163 



n 



FOREWORD 

In the early part of 1918 I was re- 
quested by Dean E. A. Healy, of the 
University of Southern Cahfornia, to 
dehver some time during the year 1919 
a series of lectures before the students 
of the Maclay College of Theology. 
He suggested that the lectures deal 
with some of the outstanding problems 
of evangeUsm from the viewpoint of 
the pastor. Upon the successful com- 
pletion of the one-million-dollar cam- 
paign for endowment and equipment, 
in the spring of 1918, the Board of 
Trustees of the University, on the 
motion of President G. F. Bovard, 
established The New Era Lectureship, 
and requested that these lectures be 
given as the first series of the new foun- 
dation. The lectures were, therefore, 
delivered before the students of the 
University of Southern California, in- 
9 



FOREWORD 

eluding those of the Maclay College of 
Theology, February 24-28, 1919. 

In the preparation of the lectures 
I have read with great appreciation and 
profit much of the literature on evan- 
gehsm, regardless of denominational 
emphasis and viewpoint, and have en- 
deavored to discover what are the 
fundamental problems of evangelism. 
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness 
to all those great souls who, realizing 
how absolutely important it is that the 
church shall be definitely evangehstic, 
have endeavored by lectures and ad- 
dresses to acquaint Christian ministers 
with the perils that threaten the church 
at this point. In their emphasis on 
social service large nimabers of preach- 
ers have lost the evangehstic note, 
while all too often those who place 
emphasis on evangehsm seem to be 
utterly obhvious of the importance of 
social service. I have especially empha- 
sized the doctrine of the deity of Jesus 
Christ as fundamental to evangelism. 
10 



FOREWORD 

For years large numbers of pastors of 
the evangelical churches have lost the 
positive note in their preaching. One 
of the major reasons for this is that 
many have been influenced by German 
rationahsm, and have come to question 
the divinity of our Lord, The result 
is the Christ of the Scriptures — ^the his- 
torical divine Christ — is given scant 
place in their preaching. 

The lectures do not deal specially 
with plans for evangelistic work, but 
rather with that which is of greater im- 
portance — ^the stating of those princi- 
ples that are fundamental to all evan- 
gelism. I am conscious of the fact that 
these lectures come far short of being 
a satisfactory statement of this most im- 
portant subject, but they represent an 
earnest endeavor to face what seem, in 
my opinion, to be the most pressing 
problems of evangelism from the 
preacher's standpoint. 

It is impossible for me to express in 
words my high appreciation of the 
11 



FOREWORD 

honor conferred upon me by the trustees 
of the University of Southern Califor- 
nia in asking me to give the first series 
of the New Era Lectureship. If as a 
result of this effort there should come 
to anyone a clearer vision of the perils 
of the hour, so far as evangehsm is 
concerned, and if it should be in the 
least degree the cause of having the 
church face more seriously and cour- 
ageously the vital questions that are 
here discussed, the effort will not have 
been in vain. 

A. W. L. 



12 



THE PREACHER AND EVAN- 
GELISM 



THE PREACHER AND EVAN- 
GELISM 

The true minister of the gospel 
realizes that his supreme business is to 
bring men and women to a saving 
knowledge of Jesus Christ, He feels 
the upward thrust of that inner power 
which will not let him rest unless he 
sees men and women accepting Jesus 
Christ as their personal Saviour from 
sin* With him it is not a matter of 
choosing a profession. Reahzing that 
he has been chosen, his heart cries out 
to God constantly that he may be 
spared from becoming a professional 
minister, 

Unfortimately, the demands made 
upon the modern preacher tend to pro- 
fessionalize his ministry. He feels al- 
most irresistibly the pressure of insti- 
15 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

tutionalism. He discovers sooner or 
later that he is embroiled in multitudi- 
nous activities which draw his energy 
and thought from that which is of 
supreme importance. 

Some time ago an article appeared 
in the Atlantic Monthly, by Mr. Ed- 
ward Lewis, entitled "The Professional 
Ministry." As the church faces the 
period of reconstruction that is already 
at hand, this article might be reread by 
Christian people with great profit. The 
article is negative in that the writer 
contents himself with pointing out that 
something is radically wrong with the 
present-day ministry. He observes 
that modern preaching has lost its pro- 
phetic character. He is of the opinion 
that the church is a diminishing and 
decaying institution from which power 
and authority in the world are swiftly 
passing. He says there is some "quahty 
of spirit" lacking and that church life 
is being smothered with duties which do 
not necessarily require any special 
16 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

quality of religious conscience or high 
spiritual endowment. He tells us that 
the church is more concerned with or- 
ganization than with hfe, that we are 
laying emphasis on money instead of 
upon the spirit which furnishes in love 
the means by which the work of the 
church is maintained. He enimierates 
in the following words the multitudi- 
nous activities of the average minister: 
"He must keep the people together, 
shepherd the flock, and originate new 
plans which will be hkely to attract 
others from outside; he must visit the 
homes of his people and make himself 
pleasant; bring around the disaffected, 
stimulate the slack; stimulate the staff 
by his example; attend upon the sick; 
comfort the dying; preside over all 
kinds of gatherings, from a prayer 
meeting to a pipe parliament; be able 
to speak out offhand on almost every 
subject under the sun; take several 
kinds of classes; initiate good works; 
run this and that from a concert to a 
17 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

creche; represent his congregation in 
denominational assembhes. He must 
be a preacher, a pastor, the secretary of 
a company, the managing director of 
a thriving business and (as often as 
not) his own conmiercial traveler to 
boot. In addition to this, he must keep 
up a style consistent with his position 
and suffer all the social entanglements 
connected therewith, whether he hkes it 
or not. He must also be a credit to his 
church in local pubUc affairs.'' 

In the concluding portion of the ar- 
ticle, the author expresses his belief that 
the dechne in the chiu-ch's influence will 
continue as long as she kills her 
prophets by making them subservient 
to organization. 

More recently an article appeared in 
the Literary Digest entitled "The La- 
borer is Worthy of His Hire." For 
months after this article was pubHshed 
it was the topic of conversation in 
church circles everywhere. So timely 
and of such constructive value was it 
18 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

that it later appeared in practically 
every leading publication of the Prot- 
estant churches of America, It is a 
powerful and convincing appeal, on the 
ground of fair play, to increase the 
salaries of preachers. 

After speaking of the increased cost 
of living and of the fact that wage- 
earners in every department of the na- 
tion's work have been demanding more 
income, and that their demands have 
been recognized as just and necessary, 
the writer says : 

"Your pastor is not a cheap man nor 
an unskilled laborer. He has brought 
long, careful training to his task. He 
was chosen with scrutinizing care as to 
his qualifications and he is being meas- 
ured to-day by high and exacting re- 
quirements in the performance of his 
work. • . . 

"Set down on paper some of the 
qualities and duties you demand of 
your pastor, and then judge their 
value. 

19 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

"He must be a man among men, a 
man of force, tact, and agreeable per- 
sonality, a good mixer, a man of knowl- 
edge, wisdom, and authority, whose 
presence commands respect and whose 
word carries conviction. He must be 
able to influence men and women, win 
their confidence, kindle their enthusi- 
asm, direct their energies, and organize 
their working powers. He must be full 
of sympathy, ready with consolation, 
a strength in weakness, a bright hght 
in times of darkness, and a never-fail- 
ing source of inspiration to the souls 
of his people. You expect all this of 
him. 

Your pastor, also, must be the suc- 
cessful head and center of your organ- 
ized church activities, business, social, 
and spiritual. On occasion, or as a 
regular part of his task, he must be an 
expert money-raiser. You engage him 
as your chief and leader, the general 
manager of your chiu-ch, if not its 
actual creator or saviour from its diffi- 
20 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

culties. You put upon him a burden 
and a responsibility you would never 
dream of intrusting to any cheap man 
in business." 

The preacher is keenly conscious of 
all this. The demands of the people 
and the inadequate support he receives 
make it exceedingly difficult for him to 
properly emphasize the evangehstic side 
of his ministry. The average pastor 
knows all too well that when the income 
of the church begins to fall away, 
whispers soon arise as to whether he "is 
quite the right man" or, perhaps, that 
''he has finished his work among us." 
With anguish of soul he observes that 
at the official board meeting fibnance 
occupies the major portion of the time. 
Seldom, if ever, is there any opportu- 
nity in the board meeting to discuss and 
pray over the spiritual problems of the 
church. From day to day the faithful 
pastor endeavors to meet the multi- 
tudinous social demands that are made 
upon him. Right bravely he responds 
21 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

to the numerous calls for speeches, lec- 
tures, and addresses. He regards it as 
a compliment to be asked to do such 
things, and, furthermore, he knows that 
his church members will consider him 
to be popular or unpopular in propor- 
tion to the number of local outside en- 
gagements he is able to fill and whether 
or not the community can say of him 
that he is a ''good mixer." 

Any man thus driven through the 
week, and Hving under the constancy 
of such pressure, may enter the pulpit 
on Sunday, and he may talk, expound, 
explain, theologize, and argue, but 
rarely, if ever, will he really preach. It 
is practically an impossibility for him to 
do so. 

The supreme mission of the preacher 
is to persuade men and women to ac- 
cept Jesus Christ as their personal 
Saviour, and to build up behevers in 
the most holy faith. How can he do 
this effectively if his time and strength 
are spent in ''running" the church 
22 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

machinery, inventing plans for the rais- 
ing of funds, and in meeting social en- 
gagements? Shall the minister, then, 
withdraw from the life of the day? Is 
he no longer to live among folks and 
brush shoulders with his fellow men? 
Is he not to take a hand in helping to 
solve the social problems and in bring- 
ing about great moral reforms? Is the 
modern preacher in the reconstruction 
period to become a recluse, a hermit? 
By no means! He must be a man 
among men. His presence and influ- 
ence must be felt wherever there is hu- 
man need. He must do his part in help- 
ing to solve the problem of human liv- 
ing together, which is the social prob- 
lem. These he must do, but not to the 
neglect of the spiritual needs of him- 
self and his people. It is at this point 
that large numbers of preachers are 
failing to-day. They give their time 
and effort to social and reform matters 
to the exclusion and neglect of the 
spiritual needs of their people. The 
23 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

note of personal appeal is very largely- 
absent from their preaching. 

Some years ago I asked Gipsy Smith 
what in his mind was the greatest de- 
fect in the preaching of American min- 
isters, and he answered immediately, 
"The American preachers have lost 
their power of appeal." 

The question before us is, therefore, 
Can the modern preacher, in view of 
the many demands of a social and finan- 
cial nature that are made on him by the 
church and society, be successful in 
carrying out an evangehstic program 
for his chm-ch? 

There can be but one answer, and 
that is. The pastor must have an evan- 
gelistic program at whatever cost. He 
must hold himself and his church to that 
and adjust other matters accordingly. 

The preacher who is really fired with 
a holy passion for the salvation of men 
and women from sin will not be blind 
to nor will he ignore the great social 
and reform movements of the com- 
24 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

munity where he hves. There may be 
weeks and even months when he will 
feel justified in giving most, if not all, 
of his time to the advancement of some 
special reform or social movement. 
When that is done and he has given to 
the special cause all the time and effort 
that may reasonably be expected of 
him, he should not forget his evan- 
gelistic mission. This is not a plea for 
any special kind or type of evangehstic 
effort. It is not a plea for what is 
known as the "revival service," al- 
though it is my firm conviction — and 
an experience of many years in the pas- 
torate bears out the statement — ^that 
any pastor may have a "revival" in his 
church when both himself and the peo- 
ple are willing to pay the price. But 
call it by whatever name you please, 
"Revival," "Lenten Services," "Special 
Meetings," "Meetings for the Deepen- 
ing of the Spiritual Life," etc., the 
name is of little consequence. The im- 
portant thing is whether the preacher 
25 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

knows what it means to be possessed by 
the sacrificial spirit of the Master, It 
is so easy for the preacher to become 
callous, so easy for him to become pro- 
fessional. The ideal toward which the 
preacher should bend the entire ener- 
gies of his soul is that of bringing his 
own church to a standard of continuous 
evangehsm with himself as the evan- 
gehst. Let no one deceive himself by 
thinking that this can be accompHshed 
merely by organization and newspaper 
pubHcity. Organization is important, 
and a certain amount of newspaper 
pubHcity and other advertising may be 
perfectly legitimate, possibly essential; 
but to place too much reliance on these 
things is utterly wrong. The preacher 
deals with spiritual forces and he who 
would carry out a program of continu- 
ous evangelism in his church will sooner 
or later discover that he has set himself 
to one of the biggest tasks that possibly 
can engage his mind and heart. 
Reference already has been made to 
26 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

some of the difficulties in the way of a 
modern preacher doing the very work 
he has been called to do. There are 
other hindrances to evangelism, as 
every pastor knows. I refer to the 
widespread materialistic spirit, the 
critical temper, and the very marked 
social unrest. A great wave of prac- 
tical materialism has swept over our age 
like a giant tidal wave. By this is not 
meant a philosophic materialism, but 
the materialism that expresses itself in 
the form of commerciahsm and the 
mere love of pleasure. As a result of 
the critical temper of the age, old 
creeds have been dissolved in many 
minds and a vital faith has not yet 
taken definite and positive form. In 
addition to all this, the social unrest that 
is hterally shaking the world, and the 
spirit of organized labor that is not 
only indifferent to the church but fre- 
quently hostile to it, present problems 
to the modern preacher of which the 
fathers had no conception. 
27 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Notwithstanding these things, evan- 
gelism is possible, yea, it is absolutely- 
essential, if the church is to measure up 
to that which God requires of her. 
Paul said, "I can do all things through 
Christ which strengtheneth me." 

Concerning this statement by the 
apostle to the Gentiles, who knew the 
meaning of preaching the gospel under 
very adverse circumstances, J. H. 
Jowett has said: ''The strength was 
transmitted to him. There was a great 
power house, and the energy was con- 
veyed to him as a humble receiver. But 
it was more than a transmission. 'Him 
strengthening me.' At either end there 
is a person, and a power passes from 
one to the other. It is not that at one 
end there is a great historic hero, a 
supreme example in a great gallery of 
heroes, and at the other end a living, 
contemporary with searching and im- 
mediate need. No, at either end there 
is a hving soul, and the apostle Paul is 
deahng with a living communicative 
28 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

energizing Christ. Paul drew his sap, 
his spiritual force, the power which 
made him effective, out of a living fel- 
lowship with the living Christ of God." 
If the modern preacher is to be in 
the best sense of the term an evangelist 
among the people whom he serves, he 
must know Jesus Christ to be his per- 
sonal Saviour from sin. His faith in 
him as Saviour must be absolute. Not 
the Christ that some are to-day pro- 
claiming, but the Christ of the Scrip- 
tures, the Christ of prophecy, the Christ 
of the cross, ''the only begotten of the 
Father, full of grace and truth." The 
preacher who doubts the deityship of 
Jesus Christ may preach scholarly ser- 
mons, may be a very eloquent and 
learned man, may be in close touch with 
all the social movements of the day, but 
he will never be a soul-winner. In the 
very nature of the case he cannot be. 
What the world needs most to-day is 
a fresh emphasis upon the fact of the 
divinity of Jesus Christ. No other gos- 
29 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

pel will meet the demands of the recon- 
struction period. The storm center is 
Jesus Christ. The words of Dale writ- 
ten years ago have not lost their mean- 
ing in this new day. "The storm has 
moved round the whole horizon, but it 
is rapidly concentrating its strength and 
fury above one sacred Head. This, 
this is the real issue of the fight — Is 
Christendom to beheve in Christ any 
longer or no? It is a battle in which 
everything is to be lost or won. It is 
not a theory of ecclesiastical pohty 
which is in danger, it is not a theological 
system, it is not a creed, it is not the 
Old Testament or the New, but the 
claim of Christ himself to be the Son 
of God and the Saviour of mankind. 
This is surely enough to stir the church 
to vehement enthusiasm and to inspire 
it with its old heroic energy. It is a 
controversy, not for theologians merely, 
but for every man who has seen the face 
of Christ, and can bear personal testi- 
mony of his power and glory." 
30 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

That is the secret, for only the 
preacher who ''can bear personal testi- 
mony of His power and glory" can ex- 
pect to bring about a spiritual crisis in 
other men's lives whereby they shall 
come to know him also as Lord and 
personal Saviour. The work of Cal- 
vary must be proclaimed by those who 
from personal experience can say, "I 
know whom I have believed." 

In all of this we are assured that the 
Holy Spirit will take the things of 
Christ and make them real not only to 
us as preachers, but also to those for 
whose salvation we labor. But it is 
everlastingly true that unless the 
preacher is himself living the absolutely 
surrendered life, he can never become > 
the apostle of surrender to others. 

The preacher must know his Bible. 
Paul wrote to Timothy, "All scripture 
is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, for instruction in righteous- 
ness: that the man of God may be per- 
31 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

feet" (English Revised Version, "fur- 
nished completely unto every good 
work"). The preacher who does not 
know his Bible cannot be ''furnished 
completely." There are large numbers 
of ministers of the gospel whose knowl- 
edge of the Word of God is compara- 
tively meager. They fail to make the 
Bible first in their studies, and their 
sermons show it. How can the preacher 
comply with the admonition of the 
Master to Peter, "Feed my sheep," 
unless he himself feeds in green pas- 
tures and beside still waters? Some 
men are clever and have a reputation 
for making striking statements. They 
are very well versed in the poets and are 
"up to date" so far as current litera- 
ture is concerned. They crowd their 
churches by announcing sensational and 
sometimes irreverent themes. As a 
rule, their day is a short one, for they 
soon "wear out." The people need the 
gospel of comfort, of sympathy, and of 
love. 

32 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

People need to be aroused concern- 
ing the fact of sin, and the Christ of 
God must be presented to them in love. 
They must be led to see that he is their 
hope and their salvation. In order to 
do this the minister must know his 
Bible. Whatever may be our theory 
of inspiration, God has appointed the 
Bible as the one book a man must know 
if he is to be a successful winner of 
souls. The centuries of the Christian 
Church furnish ample proof of the cor- 
rectness of this statement. Those who 
have moved men mightily by their 
preaching have been without exception 
men whose lives were literally saturated 
with the Word of God. He who would 
bring men and women to saving faith 
in Jesus Christ must be able to use the 
Bible as a skilled workman uses his 
tools. Jesus said, "The seed is the 
word of God"; and Peter said, "Hav- 
ing been begotten again, not of cor- 
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
through the Word of God, which liveth 
33 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

and abideth." In James we read: "Of 
his own wiir begat he us with the word 
of truth, that we should be a kind of 
firstfruits of his creatures." Again in 
Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians the 
same truth is declared: "In whom ye 
also trusted, after that ye heard the 
word of truth, the gospel of your salva- 
tion.'' 

These are only a few of the many 
passages of Scripture which declare 
that it is the word received into the 
heart — ^that is, the word believed — 
through which the spiritual change we 
call conversion is brought about. We 
cannot sufficiently exalt the life-giving 
power of the word. 

That which rescued the church from 
the negations of the eighteenth cen- 
tury was not philosophy or learning, 
but, rather, the tides of spiritual re- 
vival that swept over Britain and other 
lands, as a result of the Wesleyan re- 
vival. The preaching of that move- 
ment was eminently biblical. The Bible 
34 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

was the one authority for the preach- 
er's message, and in the wake of that 
God-inspired movement a new Kfe was 
breathed into society and a new day 
dawned upon the world. Evangehsm 
won the victory over indifference and 
unbeKef, and it is to evangehsm we 
must look for still greater victories in 
the days that lie just ahead. 

The preacher must he a man of 
prayer. This is his strong fortress. By 
it he can break down the materialistic 
spirit, overcome the prevailing critical 
temper, and lead his people into the 
most definite kind of sacrificial service. 
Prayer is the secret of the expanding 
life. The more prayerful the preacher 
is, the more powerful he will be in his 
preaching and the more effective he will 
be in personal work. His whole life 
must be a prayer, and if it is not, his 
preaching will reveal the fact. With- 
out exception the successful soul-winner 
is a man of prayer. He knows what it 
means to agonize for the conversion of 
35 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

definite men and women, Jesus 
"offered up prayers and supplications 
with strong crying and tears," and 
Paul said, ''I would have you know 
how greatly I agonize for you." The 
Saviour prayed ''with strong crying 
and tears," and Paul, the apostle, 
"agonized" in intercession. "True in- 
tercession," says Jowett, "is a sacrifice, 
a bleeding sacrifice, a perpetuation of 
Calvary, a 'filUng up' of the sufferings 
of Christ." 

Charles G. Finney knew the mean- 
ing and importance of intercessory 
prayer, for he is said to have asked his 
host on one occasion to permit him to 
sleep in the barn rather than in a com- 
fortable bed. The request being 
granted, he was seen to climb up into 
the haymow, where he spent the night 
in prayer for the blessing of God upon 
the services he was to begin the next 
day. 

When Dwight L. Moody was con- 
ducting those great meetings in the 
36 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Hippodrome in New York, he could 
scarcely wait until the service was dis- 
missed because of his eagerness to pray 
with individuals in the inquiry room. 

That great soul-winner George 
Macgregor stated that there was prob- 
ably not an hour of any day the last 
years of his life when a passion for souls 
did not present itself consciously and 
consumingly to his heart. 

When we think of these prayer-war- 
riors, and how intercessory prayer 
bulked so large in their lives, we dis- 
cover the more readily the weakness of 
our efforts to bring men and women to 
a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
Do we really know what it means to 
"agonize" as did the apostle Paul for 
the salvation of men? If we know noth- 
ing of this experience, neither shall we 
know the joy of soul- winning. 

As the church faces the conditions of 
this new day, what is to be the outstand- 
ing characteristic of her message? If 
she is true, her message will be, "For 
37 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting Hfe," and her ministers 
will be flaming heralds of the divine 
truth. 

The following letter was received by- 
Bishop W. F. McDowell from a friend 
serving as a chaplain somewhere in 
France, and states at once the problem 
and the task before us in the new day 
of reconstruction: 

"My fourteen-year-old son in select- 
ing a Christmas gift for me chose your 
Yale Lectures. The very virtue of 
them makes them painful reading here 
where almost every sight and sound 
bears witness to the bitter estrange- 
ment of man from man. 

"But even more terrible than this 
estrangement is the fact that it hardly 
enters into the minds of the millions of 
soldiers here high and low that the root 
of it all lies in man's estrangement from 
God. And the matter looks worse still 
38 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

when we ask why they do not think of 
this. It is the whole business of the 
church to bring men to see the import- 
ance of reconcihation with God. Why 
has the church not done it? 

''The equipment with which the 
church fits men out is being put to the 
test here in France. I have had con- 
tact with a good many trained under 
highly favorable circumstances in our 
Protestant churches. I would not say 
that their lives are not profoundly in- 
fluenced by their training, but if recon- 
ciliation with God as a conscious ex- 
perience is to be accepted as the test 
of that training, it has proved very de- 
ficient. What strikes one is the serious 
lack of any clear and definite religious 
conceptions in the minds of these young 
men that are powerful enough to create 
any sense of loyalty to Christ and the 
church or to produce any adequate ap- 
preciation of the importance of these 
things. 

"Why has the church failed in this? 
39 



EVANGELISM IX THE 

How is the failure to be corrected? 
Our pastors are busy with frantic 
eflForts to get people in the church, 
whether they are well trained or not, 
in order to satisfy the demands which 
laymen make for a showing. The 
churches are busy with raising great 
funds for endowments, the Young 
Men's Christian Association, the Red 
Cross, and other objects, and danger- 
ously honoring rich people as a part of 
the process. We are busy with pro- 
grams, but down at the root of it all 
we are not making reconcihation with 
God a real thing to the children in our 
Sunday schools and the congregations 
in our churches. A harking back to 
the methods of the past will not do. 
What are we to do? It is absolutely 
necessary that the German ambitions 
be curbed at whatever cost. But that 
will not bring peace. Only reconcilia- 
tion with God will do that. Only the 
church has the power to mediate that 
reconcihation. Will it?'' 
40 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

May God help the ministry so to 
present Christ to men that they will be 
reconciled with God. This is the mis- 
sion of the church. This is the preach- 
er's high calling in Christ Jesus. 



4tl 



II 

EVANGELISM AND YOUNG 
PEOPLE 



II 



EVANGELISM AND YOUNG 
PEOPLE 

It has been said that youth is ''a 
wide, deep river, dividing childhood 
from manhood; a river which, hke the 
river of death, must be crossed without 
bridge or boat; through which each soul 
must go; into whose turbid waters the 
child must descend alone, knowing well 
that beneath their flood his childhood 
will be buried to rise no more ; a stream 
both broad and turbulent, not to be 
crossed in a day or a year ; whose buoy- 
ant waters will indeed bear him up, 
but not without his efforts; whose cur- 
rents will land him somewhere on the 
other shore, but, O, so far down stream, 
on the dusty plains of sordid, sinful 
manhood, far out of sight of those green 
45 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

hills of childhood that were so near to 
heaven." 

This figure pictures to us that period 
of our own Uves when we were between 
child and man. It was the period of 
restlessness and uncertainty. Nothing 
seemed to be fixed and stable. If our 
httle craft was fastened to a mooring 
one day, it was caught by unexpected 
and irresistible currents the next and 
we were carried far downstream. We 
comprehended so little and yet we lived 
in a state of constant expectancy. We 
had our times of exhilaration and also 
those of humihation and disappoint- 
ment. We reahzed that we were caught 
in the great rush of life, eager to sup- 
port ourselves and to be free from 
others' control, having visions of the 
long road that stretched out before us, 
although having no idea of what was at 
the other end. 

Youth is an unexplored continent 
and few the're be who can penetrate its 
jungles, follow its trails, and discover 
46 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

its secrets. We have come that way 
ourselves, and yet how easily we forget 
and how stupid we are. We all love 
children, but do we all love youth? 
This question can be answered more 
affirmatively to-day than ever before, 
for the church is beginning to know 
youth better than in former years, and 
to know youth is to love youth with a 
full heart. Earnest souls are studying 
the mind and spirit of youth to-day with 
a sympathy and zeal that are worthy of 
the highest commendation. The rise 
of young people's organizations within 
the church is bringing about a better 
understanding of the special problems 
and essential needs of the young peo- 
ple who are passing through the forma- 
tive period of adolescence. 

Youth is the character-forming 
period of hfe, and the character-form- 
ing processes go hand in hand with the 
transformation of the body of the child 
into that of a man. It requires not less 
than ten or twelve years for the physical 
47 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

processes to be completed, and while 
those processes are going on, the mind 
and spirit are being most powerfully 
affected. This development with girls 
is generally more rapid than with boys. 
This is the period when there is a 
noticeable independence of thought, a 
disposition to be argumentative, and 
when there is an emotional awakening. 
In his book on Educational Evan- 
gelism, Charles E. McKinley says: "In 
the transformation of the child into the 
man there are three things to be done. 
We observe, accordingly, three acts in 
the drama of youth. They correspond 
also in a general way with the three 
periods of adolescence. The dramatic 
action of the jBrst period centers in the 
youth's achievement of his personal 
freedom; in the second, in his discovery 
of hf e ; in the third, in his incorporation, 
as a distinct individual, into the social 
body. The first step to a sympathetic 
understanding of youth is an intelli- 
gent acquaintance with the necessary 
48 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

dramatic action within the spirit by 
which these successive objects are at- 
tained." 

What are the circumstances and 
methods through which and by which 
we are to arrive at the place of a sym- 
pathetic and intelKgent understanding 
of youth? It will be readily admitted 
that the great problem is to bring the 
independent self-assertive will of youth 
to the place where it will be reconciled 
to the divine will. As the prodigal 
came to it by way of reconcihation with 
Ms father, so must youth by way of 
reconciliation with the heavenly Father. 

The Catholic Church believes that 
this is accomplished by the Spirit at the 
time of baptism, administered by the 
priest. This church teaches that there 
is a sacramental grace bestowed in this 
rite, which when performed results in 
the regeneration of the individual. The 
reformed churches radically modified 
this view by placing the emphasis not so 
much upon the sacramental rite as upon 
49 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

the truth contained in the creed and 
catechism. Among Protestants this 
emphasis became general, and it was 
taught that the regeneration of the soul 
was brought about by the acceptance 
of the truth contained in the great series 
of confessions and catechisms. 

The eighteenth century witnessed a 
radical departure from either of the 
above named points of emphasis. It 
was brought about by what is known as 
the Wesleyan revival. This movement 
placed supreme emphasis upon the 
office and work of the Holy Spirit, in 
convincing men of sin and in making 
real to them the things of Christ. 
Under this teaching men came to see 
that regeneration involved a complete 
change. It involved a change of one's 
sentiments, tastes, and desires. Old 
things passed away and all things be- 
came new. Under that teaching the 
affections and emotions were stirred, 
the awfulness of sin was revealed, and 
the deityship of Jesus Christ and his 
50 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

saving grace were magnijSed, This 
teaching maxked the greatest revival 
period in history. 

Of late years increasing emphasis has 
been placed by many upon what has 
come to be known as educational evan- 
gehsm. Horace Bushnell, in his book 
on Christian Nurture, struck the key- 
note of this latest movement in evan- 
gelism. The chief point of emphasis 
in this movement may be expressed in 
these words — "Growth, not conver- 
sion." In other words, according to 
this theory, men are to become Chris- 
tian by a process of growth rather than 
by the Holy Spirit moving upon their 
minds and hearts and leading them to 
repentance. Vast numbers of people 
have been misled by this attractive but 
nevertheless dangerous teaching. Of 
course no one will depreciate the value 
of hereditary influences, environment, 
ideals, atmosphere, spirit, etc., but we 
miss that which is the most vital thing, 
when we say that these are sufficient. 
51 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Christian character does not neces- 
sarily follow being born in a Christian 
home. We all know those who were 
born of Christian parents but whose 
lives are anything but Christian. They 
had all the advantages of heredity, cul- 
ture, and environment, and yet they are 
far removed in hfe and practice from 
the ideals of the Christian home in which 
they were born and reared. 

So far as I have been able to discover, 
the theory of educational evangeUsm 
makes no provision for the work of the 
Holy Spirit in conversion. The glar- 
ing defect in all such teaching is that 
there is no place for a spiritual crisis. 
This I hold to be absolutely essential 
and positively bibhcal. It does not 
matter how favorable may have been 
the accident of birth, nor how morally 
clean and pure the hfe has been, every 
one must come to the place where he 
consciously and purposely turns away 
from the sin and evil of the world and 
accepts Jesus Christ as his personal 
52 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Saviour. Modern Sunday school liter- 
ature is frequently lame at this point. 
Too much of it lacks the positive note 
in matters relating to the supernatural. 
"Educational evangelism" is stressed 
again and again at the expense of defi- 
nite and positive conversion. 

In working among young people, the 
goal of all our efforts should be that of 
bringing about a spiritual crisis in their 
lives that will result in their acceptance 
of Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. 
Everything is tested right here — faith, 
knowledge of the Bible, tact, temper, 
pohcy, plans, all that we are comes 
under the acid test at this point. Who 
has not longed to be able to bring young 
people to an immediate acceptance of 
Christ? Preachers, Sunday school 
teachers, Epworth Leaguers, and 
Christian workers in general have ear- 
nestly prayed that they be given that 
power by which they could become suc- 
cessful in persuading others to sur- 
render their lives to Christ. This leads 
53 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

to the question, what are the prime 
requisites for successful evangehstic 
work among young people? 

First of all, the man who would seek 
to save others must know Christ to be 
his personal Saviour. In this matter 
there must be no sham. There is no 
class of persons anywhere in the world 
that more quickly detects the false note 
than young people. If it is in the ser- 
mon, they will find it out. If it is in 
the hfe of the Sunday school teacher, 
they are not slow in discovering it. If 
a man's life does not support his pro- 
fession, then any attempts he may make 
to win them to Christ will fail. When 
young people find out that the person 
who is interesting himself in their spirit- 
ual welfare is living a consistent Chris- 
tian life they will usually give him a 
listening ear. Absolute sincerity and 
an absence of all that savors of arti- 
ficiality is the demand made upon 
Christians by the youth of to-day. 

In the second place, Christian 
54 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

workers must gain the confidence of 
those whom they would win for Christ. 
This is not always an easy thing to do. 
God has blessed some with a personality 
that is unusually attractive. It is not 
so difficult for them to get close to 
young people. They are eagerly 
sought by the young, and are not in 
conversation very long with them be- 
fore they have secured their confidence 
to an unusual degree. This confiden- 
tial relation once established sweeps 
out of the way many obstacles that 
would bulk large under other con- 
ditions. Young people know who are 
really their friends. Their difficulties, 
temptations, and sorrows are very real 
to them, and when they find some one 
who sympathizes with them, some one 
who really knows, they will take the 
short cut in order to unburden their 
hearts to one who is a friend. Not all 
will be equally successful, but it is the 
sacred duty of every follower of Christ 
to leave nothing undone in the develop- 
55 



EVANGELISM IX THE 

ment of his own personality so that 
young people will be attracted to Christ 
through him. Then when we have done 
all that we can do, God will do what 
we cannot do, and we will stand amazed 
at the results of our own efforts. 

The Sunday school and the Eptvorth 
League offer unparalleled opportuni- 
ties for reaching the young hfe of the 
church. These are practically the only 
organizations within the church that 
can carry out a plan of continuous 
evangelism. Be it said to the credit of 
both of these organizations that they 
are doing a greater evangelistic work 
to-day than ever before in their history. 
When a pastor I planned with the Sun- 
day School Board of my church for 
Decision Day months in advance. This 
involved many conferences with the 
officers, teachers, and parents, but when 
Decision Day came, the appeal was fol- 
lowed by a rich harvest chiefly of young 
people, who were at once assigned to 
preparatory classes under the direction 
56 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

of the pastor. The Epworth League, 
never stronger or more efficient than it 
is to-day, is doing a work among the 
young people of Methodism that 
augurs great things for the future of 
the church. Dr. Charles E. Guthrie, 
general secretary of the Epworth 
League of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, has well said: ''The universal 
feature of young life is not study, al- 
though for many reasons we could wish 
it were; nor is worship, important as 
that must be admitted to be. The uni- 
versal feature of young life is comrade- 
ship. This has been recognized and 
made fundamental in the young peo- 
ple's movement known as the Epworth 
League — so that the movement which 
has had such phenomenal development 
for a generation is nothing more than 
the strategy of the church capitalizing 
the comradeship of youth for the serv- 
ice of Christ." 

This is what the Epworth League 
institutes of the Methodist Episcopal 
57 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Church are doing for the youth of 
Methodism. To these institutes come 
young people paying their own ex- 
penses and entering enthusiastically 
upon a week of intensive training for 
better service and for leadership in the 
local chapters and home churches. 
During the institute week these young 
people not only face but dihgently 
study "the whole program, for the 
whole church, for the whole world." 
Under the inspiration of the fine Chris- 
tian comradeship of the institutes large 
numbers of the most promising youth 
of Methodism find Christ as a personal 
Saviour and discover that God has a 
special work for them to do. 

The third requisite is to "follow up" 
faithfully the work that has been be- 
gun. In this respect the church has 
too often failed. We have all known 
of great revivals of rehgion that gave 
promise of great things for the King- 
dom. But six months after the revival 
was over there was very little to show 
58 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

for it. The work accomplished was 
thorough enough, but there was no fol- 
low-up plan. No business house would 
be guilty of such neglect in the care of 
new customers. With what painstak- 
ing care the new prospects are followed 
up! What interest is manifested and 
what courtesy is extended to those 
whom it is hoped will become regular 
patrons ! It is even more essential that 
new converts shall be followed up and 
encouraged and advised. The Epworth 
League for years was weak at this 
point. Large numbers of life decisions 
and conversions were reported each 
year by those having in charge the in- 
stitutes, but the church had compara- 
tively little to show for it. All this is 
being changed now, for the League is 
developing a life-service department 
with carefully trained young people as 
life-service secretaries, whose whole 
time is being given in the interest of 
those who have heard the call of God 
to some special form of Christian serv- 
59 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

ice. Follow-up work that is carefully 
planned and patiently pursued will 
bring a rich reward. Our failure to fol- 
low up some preliminary endeavor may 
mean complete failure so far as some 
soul is concerned. A young man who 
attended the church I served as pas- 
tor was a university student who stood 
well among his fellows. Soon after 
making his acquaintance I had the good 
fortune of gaining his friendship. 
When I first met him he said with con- 
siderable assurance, "I tried out reH- 
gion once and don't think there is much 
in it." To become a lawyer was the 
goal of his ambitions. I made up my 
mind I would win him for Christ if such 
a thing were possible. For two years 
I lost no opportunity of showing a per- 
sonal interest in him. I literally laid 
siege to that young man's life, and to 
my great joy he came forward at the 
close of a preaching service one Sunday 
morning and said in a calm but definite 
fashion: "I have made the decision to- 
60 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

day. I am ready to unite with the 
Church." The two years of quest for 
the salvation of that young man were 
worth while, and though he did not be- 
come a lawyer, he did go into journal- 
ism, and the last I heard of him he was 
the assistant editor of a daily paper in 
one of the greatest cities of this coun- 
try. It pays to ''follow up" and it pays 
to hold on. 

In addition to following up prelimi- 
nary endeavor, every effort should be 
made to tie up the new convert to some 
kind of Christian service. After im- 
pression must come expression. This 
is not always an easy task, but until 
young Christians are related in some 
vital way to the activities of the church 
or to some kind of Christian service, 
we cannot avoid the conviction they are 
in grave danger of losing their hold on 
the Christian life altogether. 

In dealing with young people and 
their religious life it is neither right nor 
fair that the same type of religious ex- 
61 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

perience shall be expected of them that 
is to be found in persons of mature 
life and experience. If it takes ten 
years for nature to transform the body 
of a boy into that of a man, we should 
be very patient with the seemingly slow 
progress of our young people in moral 
and spiritual development. This does 
not mean, however, that the religious 
experiences of youth are not as clear 
and distinct as are those of later life. 
They are undoubtedly just as clear and 
just as real, but they are the experiences 
of youth and not those of old age. 
Many young people in their late teens 
have become discouraged in their reli- 
gious life because some well-meaning 
but unwise grown-up has criticized them 
unkindly and demanded an expression 
of their sincerity which was utterly un- 
reasonable from the standpoint of 
youth. Nothing is more easily marred 
than young hfe, and every one who 
seeks to win young people to Christ 
should bear this fact constantly in mind. 
62 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

To be successful here requires all the 
graces of Christian character. 

Thus far in the discussion there has 
been no mention of the place of the 
Bible in the work of evangehzation 
among young people. It need scarcely 
be said that the personal worker must 
know his Bible. He cannot know it 
too well, and he cannot read it too often. 
Its soul-saving truths must become a 
part of himself and, like an expert 
workman who is thoroughly familiar 
with his tools, he must be able to place 
his hand upon those portions of the 
Scripture that will serve his immediate 
need. The use of the Bible should not 
have the appearance of professionalism. 
Some schools of evangelism urge an im- 
mediate use of the printed page in deal- 
ing with all classes of persons. The 
Bible is produced at once, a portion of 
Scripture selected and the finger is 
placed upon it, with the request that 
the person read it for himself. The 
wisdom of this method is very doubtful, 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

and unless great discrimination is used 
it may do more harm than good. As 
a rule, the person who is not yet a con- 
fessed follower of Christ is not very 
much interested in what the Bible says, 
and at the start his attitude may be 
utterly disinterested, or even antago- 
nistic. Of course there will be excep- 
tions, but the first thing to do is to 
find a meeting ground of common in- 
terest and from that point lead the un- 
believer on to the place where he accepts 
Christ as Saviour. The approach must 
be free from any preacher tone and it 
must be in the language and accent of 
the present day. The work is not com- 
pleted, however, until the newly con- 
fessed follower of Christ discovers that 
the Bible is the inspired Word of God, 
the Book of Life, the guide to the way 
of truth. It then becomes the duty of 
the Christian worker, and it is also the 
duty of the church, to so interpret the 
Scripture as the Book of Life that 
young people will realize that it is of 
64 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

vital importance that their lives be 
linked up with its teachings and pre- 
cepts. 

The youth time of life is at once the 
most fascinating and dangerous. If 
our young people slip out of their teens 
into manhood and womanhood without 
having acknowledged Christ as their 
Saviour, the task of ever winning them 
to the Christian life is increased four- 
fold. 

It was in my late teens that I experi- 
enced conversion. My mother was an 
invalid during the last nineteen or 
twenty years of her life, and during all 
that time scarcely knew what it was to 
draw a breath without a pain. I had 
formed the friendship of two or three 
boys who were reckless in their eager- 
ness to have a "good time." We had 
agreed to attend an amusement park 
which was nothing but a German beer 
garden. While on the way I was seized 
with a conviction that if I carried out 
the plan it might mean my ruin. Sud- 
65 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

denly and quite abruptly I excused my- 
self from my friends and remarked that 
instead of going with them I had de- 
cided to go to church. They thought 
I was perpetrating a joke, but for me 
it was serious business. I went at once 
to the church our family attended, the 
Sumner Avenue Church, Brooklyn, 
New York. A series of revival meet- 
ings were in progress, and one of my 
sisters was at the piano and another was 
in the choir. The pastor was conduct- 
ing the meeting, and when the invita- 
tion was extended for all who desired 
to find Christ to come forward and 
kneel at the altar of prayer, I came 
forward at once. It was there I had a 
bitter experience due to the well-mean- 
ing but misdirected efforts of the pas- 
tor, who kneeled at my side and calling 
me by my given name, said: "What are 
you here for? Your parents and your 
family are Christian people. Why 
have you come here? What do you 
want?" It both discouraged and 
66 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

angered me. He should have known 
that my young heart was breaking. I 
rephed, "Please leave me alone." But 
no relief came, and I went home, said 
nothing to my mother of what had taken 
place, and retired for the night. When 
my mother learned that I had been to 
the altar she was too wise to force any 
conversation regarding the matter, but 
as she told me afterward, she was in 
constant prayer all that night and the 
next day. The next night I again went 
to the altar, but again found no relief. 
I said to mother that night, "Well, it's 
no use. I am going to give it up," and 
she replied, "My dear boy, hold on." 
The third night I went to the altar and 
still no relief came., I hastened home 
from the church, fully intending to put 
forth no more effort. Mother was wait- 
ing for my return. It was always her 
custom to remain awake until she knew 
I was home, but on this occasion she 
was sitting in her old armchair. Poor 
soul, she was such a sufferer! Rheu- 
67 



EVANGELISM 

matism had played havoc with her 
body. Her limbs and feet and hands 
were so swollen and distorted. She 
said as I entered her room, ''Well, how 
did you get along?" I replied there 
was no use trying and that I would 
have to give it up. ''No,'' she said, 
"don't give up. Let's pray about it." 
She had been so long an invalid that I 
could not recall the last time I had 
seen her kneel in prayer. But on this 
occasion she did kneel, and with her 
hand upon my head as I kneeled at 
her side, she prayed as only mother 
could pray. It was then that I found 
the Lord. My heart melted, and I 
realized that God, for Christ's sake, had 
forgiven my sins. The fact of my con- 
version I have never doubted from that 
time to this. That was the most critical 
period of my life and but for that ex- 
perience I might have lost the way. 

May the Church of Christ not fail in 
her ministry to the youth of this new 
day I 

68 



Ill 

EVANGELISM IN CHURCH 
MUSIC 



Ill 

EVANGELISM IN CHURCH 
MUSIC 

The purpose of this lecture is not to 
trace the history of the development 
of sacred music from the Hebrew 
temple with its choir and its psahns, 
from the synagogues and the early 
Christian fraternities, with their cantil- 
lation and choral antiphony, down to 
the generally accepted customs of 
modern Christianity, but is, rather, to 
call attention to the character and pur- 
pose of sacred music in modern Chris- 
tian worship. 

There have been two widely differ- 
ent conceptions of sacred music as 
represented by the Roman Catholic 
and Protestant churches. In the 
former the church decides what belongs 
71 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

to the essence of divine worship. Ac- 
cording to this conception, church music 
is hturgical song as appointed by the 
church and such artistic song as has 
been carefully examined and admitted 
for use in divine worship. This was 
expressed very definitely by the decree 
of the Congregation of Rites of April 
23 and 26, 1883. According to this 
decree, "only that form of Gregorian 
song was to be regarded as authentic 
and regular, which in virtue of the pro- 
visions of the Council of Trent has been 
approved and confirmed by His HoH- 
ness Pope Leo XIII, as Hkewise by the 
Congregation of Sacred Rites, con- 
formably to the edition prepared at 
Regensburg, as the one used by the 
Roman Church." 

This decree, however, was reversed 
by Pius X shortly after his accession 
to the papal throne. He threw the 
weight of his authority in favor of the 
school of Solesmes, with the result that 
the monopoly of the Regensburg edi- 
72 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

tors came suddenly to an end. The 
latter decree did not exclude modern 
music from use in church services, but 
the restrictions and limitations placed 
upon it required that it be religious and 
ecclesiastical in character. 

According to the Protestant concep- 
tion, sacred music is one of the essen- 
tials to divine service. It aids in the 
proclamation of the gospel, creates an 
atmosphere of worship, fosters prayer, 
and expresses emotions that strive in 
vain for words. Evangelical worship 
is essentially a congregational act, and 
implies that the congregation shall take 
part in the same. 

All great revivals of religion have 
resulted in an outbreak of joy which 
could only be expressed in song. This 
was true of the revival under Francis 
of Assisi. His followers were called 
"Joculatores Domini," that is, "God's 
jongleurs." They went up and down 
the valleys of Italy singing their songs, 
the most famous of which was the song 
73 



EVANGELISM IN THE 



written by Francis himself entitled 
"Canticle of the Sun." This song was 
declared by Renan to be "the most 
perfect utterance of modern religious 
sentiment and showing how closely the 
heart of Francis was wedded to nature 
and to God." 

The Reformation gave to hymn-sing- 
ing an impetus that continues to this 
day. The revival under Luther was 
characterized by an outburst of song. 
Because of the reformation of pubUc 
worship there was a demand on the part 
of the people for a simpler form in 
which they might engage. 

Concerning the translations of hymns 
and chants which Luther made, as well 
as the hymns he himself composed, the 
Rev. James Burns has well said: 
"These hymns bear the same popular 
note as his translations of Scripture. 
They are full of evangelical faith, full 
of fervor, and couched in language 
which goes straight to the heart of the 
people. His great hymn 'Ein' feste 
74 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Burg ist unser Gott/ with its inspiring 
tune, also written by himself, Heine has 
called 'The Marseillaise of the Refor- 
mation.' It at once caught the popu- 
lar ear, and sweeping over Germany, 
was sung by tens of thousands whose 
hearts had been hberated by the evan- 
gehcal message, and who found in this 
noble hymn an outlet for their joy. His 
other hymn also, 'Nun freut euch lieben 
Christen gemein,' which expresses his 
own Christian experience, and gives ex- 
pression also to the joyous liberty which 
the message of the gospel brings, be- 
came immensely popular. 'Through 
this one hymn of Luther's,' says Hes- 
shusius, 'many hundreds of Christians 
have been brought to the true faith, who 
before could not endure the name of 
Luther.' These hymns undoubtedly 
did much to awaken in dormant hearts 
a new desire for spiritual things; they 
created new emotions; they brought 
into common life an intimate acquaint- 
ance with some of the most tender and 
75 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

affecting thoughts of God; they 
brought rehgion down to Hve with peo- 
ple in their common tasks, to cheer them 
in their hours of drudgery, console them 
in their hours of loss, and to their 
troubled and burdened hearts gave 
solace and ease. Instead of being re- 
garded as something distant and mys- 
terious, rehgion became to tens of thou- 
sands something intimate and precious ; 
Christ had come down from the clouds 
in which he had been hidden, and now 
tabernacled amongst them." 

The Wesleyan revival turned loose 
vast spiritual energies, and wherever 
John and Charles Wesley and White- 
field went the common people heard 
them gladly. This movement also gave 
great impetus to hymn-singing. John 
Wesley was for days seeking for peace 
and assurance. He says he was fol- 
lowing the instructions given him by 
Peter Bohler, a man who had come 
under the influence of Count Zinzen- 
dorf, and who was then giving ad- 
76 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

dresses in London to small companies 
of men and women. 

As told by Wesley, the instructions 
which Bohler gave were that he could 
find peace by (1) "absolutely renounc- 
ing all dependence, in whole or in part, 
upon my own works of righteousness, 
on which I had really grounded my 
hope of salvation, though I knew it not, 
from my youth up; (2) by adding to 
the constant use of all the other means 
of grace continued prayer for this very 
thing; justifying, saving faith; a fuller 
rehance on the blood of Christ shed for 
me; a trust in him as my sole justifica- 
tion, sanctification, and redemption." 
Despite all these efforts he says he still 
remained in a state of "strange indiffer- 
ence, dullness, and coldness, and a con- 
stant sense of failure." But that great 
day, May 24, 1738, finally came for 
him, when at five o'clock in the morn- 
ing he opened his Bible and read, 
"There are given unto us exceeding 
great and precious promises that we 
77 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

should be partakers of the divine na- 
ture." A httle later he again opened 
his Bible and read, "Thou art not far 
from the kingdom of God." All that 
day he seemed to Kve in a state of great 
expectation and toward evening he 
says, ''I went very unwillingly to the 
Society in Aldersgate Street, where 
one was reading Luther's preface to 
the Epistle to the Romans. About a 
quarter before nine while he was de- 
scribing the change wrought by God in 
the heart through faith in Christ, I felt 
my heart strangely warmed. I felt I 
did trust Christ, Christ alone, for sal- 
vation; and an assurance was given me 
that he had taken away my sins, even 
mine, and saved me from the law of sin 
and death. I began to pray with all 
my might for those who had in a more 
special manner despitefully used me 
and persecuted me. I then testified 
openly to all there what I now first felt 
in my heart." But he then goes on to 
say: "It was not long before the enemy 
78 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

suggested, 'This cannot be faith; for 
where is thy joy?' Then was I taught 
that peace and victory over sin are 
essential to faith in the Captain of our 
salvation; but that, as to the transports 
of joy that usually attend the begin- 
ning of it, especially in those who 
have mourned deeply, God sometimes 
giveth, sometimes withholdeth, them 
according to the counsels of his own 
will." 

Wesley and his friends then hastened 
to carry the glad tidings to his brother 
Charles, who was at that time ill in bed. 
Charles says : ^Toward ten my brother 
was brought in triumph by a troop of 
our friends and declared, 'I believe.' 
We sang a hymn with great joy and 
parted in prayer." 

The hymn which in all probability 
was sung was the one composed by 
Charles Wesley at the time of his own 
conversion and was in reality the first 
hymn of the new movement. 

The hymn that struck the keynote of 
79 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

the Wesleyan Revival was written by 
Charles Wesley, and is said to have been 
sung by Jesse Lee under the Old Elm 
on Boston Common in 1790 when he 
came to New England for the purpose 
of introducing Methodism: 

"Come, sinners, to the Gospel feast, 
Let every soul be Jesus' guest: 
Ye need not one be left behind. 
For God hath bidden all mankind." 

Charles Wesley has undoubtedly made 
a richer contribution to the hymnology 
of the Christian Church than any other 
hymn-writer. Up to the time of his 
conversion he wrote very few hymns, 
but after that great event he gave ex- 
pression to his new-found joy by writ- 
ing hymns. His biographers say that 
he wrote not less than six thousand five 
hundred hymns that express in a very 
remarkable manner not only his ear- 
nestness and zeal, but also his intense 
love for Christ his Saviour. One sixth 
of all the hymns of the Methodist 
80 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Hymnal were written by this great 
hymn- writer, while there are very few, 
if any, of the hymnals or song books 
used by other denominations that do not 
include in their list one or more of his 
hymns. 

More attention should be given to 
the use of great hymns in pubHc wor- 
ship. Unquestionably they are among 
the most powerful agencies at our com- 
mand for the development of the reli- 
gious sentiment of our people. The 
best of them, from the standpoint of 
theology, poetry, form, and imagery, 
are exquisitely beautiful and help to 
bring certain phases of the truth to the 
hearts of the people in a way in which 
nothing else can. The great hymns of 
the church have been born out of some 
of the richest spiritual experiences of 
the race. They reveal qualities of reli- 
gious fervor that can be explained on 
no other ground than that of divine in- 
spiration. 

In the Psalter pubHshed by Dr. Isaac 
81 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Watts, probably the greatest hymn 
was: 

"0, God, our help in ages past, 
Our hope for years to come, 
Our shelter from the stormy blast, 
And our eternal home !" 

The world will not quickly forget or 
fail to use his inspiring hymn, "Joy to 
the world ! the Lord is come." It would 
be of great benefit to Christian people 
if in these days of strife and disorder, 
when the nations of the world are strug- 
gling for a readjustment and feeling 
their way toward a new appraisement 
of human values, the last verse of this 
great hymn could be sung frequently: 

"He rules the world with truth and grace 
And makes the nations prove 
The glories of his righteousness, 
And wonders of his love." 

But of all the hymns written by Dr. 
Watts, the one that is cherished most 
dearly by Christian people everywhere 

is: 

82 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

"When I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of Glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 
And pour contempt on all my pride." 

The hymns of Philip Doddridge have 
a permanent place in the religious ex- 
periences of Christian people. His 
hymns exalt the joy and privilege of 
service: 

"My gracious Lord, I own thy right 
To every service I can pay, 
And call it my supreme delight 
To hear thy dictates, and obey, 

"What is my being but for thee, 

Its sure support, its noblest end? 
'Tis my delight thy face to see. 

And serve the cause of such a Friend. 

"His work my hoary age shall bless. 
When youthful vigor is no more; 
And my last hour of life confess 
His dying love, his saving power.'' 

He did not shrink from the work 
and service which he believed God 
wanted him to do. It was his highest 
83 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

joy to serve, and service for him was 
no hardship. 

"How gentle God's commands ! 
How kind his precepts are ! 
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord, 
And trust his constant care. 

"His goodness stands approved, 
Unchanged from day to day. 
I'll drop my burden at his feet, 
And bear a song away.'* 

John Newton has enriched the world 
by his hymns. He had rather a check- 
ered career. His mother was a de- 
vout Christian whose one great de- 
sire was that her boy might become a 
minister. But she died when John was 
a mere child, and at eleven he went to 
sea. He became wild and reckless and 
ultimately plunged into infidelity. 
When about eighteen a press-gang 
seized him and placed him on the Har- 
wich man-of-war. He became midship- 
man, but deserted the ship one night 
while she lay in Plymouth Harbor. He 
84 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

was caught and treated with such 
severity that he was glad to be ex- 
changed to a merchantman. The years 
that followed were years of dissipation. 
The vessel visited Africa, and while 
there he left it and hired himself out 
to a slave-trader. During all his wild 
career he never lost his craving for edu- 
cation. On a voyage back to England 
he began to read Thomas a Kempis. 
The thought came to him, "What if 
these things should be true?" That 
very night there was a fearful storm 
and the lives of all on board were im- 
periled. Newton was profoundly con- 
victed of sin. He says, "I began to 
pray. I could not utter the prayer of 
faith. I could not draw near to a recon- 
ciled God and call him Father. My 
prayer was like the cry of the raven, 
which yet the Lord does not disdain to 
hear." He studied the New Testament 
and was particularly impressed with the 
parable of the prodigal son. When 
he arrived at England he was a changed 
85 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

man. Later he became a minister in 
the Established Church. After a lapse 
of thirty years the prayer of his mother 
was answered. No wonder then that 
grace became his favorite theme. 
He thus describes his conversion: 

"In evil long I took delight, 
Unawed by shame or fear, 
Till a new object struck my sight 
And stopped my wild career. 

"I saw One hanging on a tree. 
In agonies and blood. 
Who fixed his languid eyes on me, 
As near his cross I stood. 

"Thus, while his death my sin displays 
In all its blackest hue. 
Such is the mystery of grace. 
It seals my pardon, too/' 

When we think of the sinful hfe he had 
lived, of the depths to which he had 
sunk, and then of his wonderful con- 
version, we are inspired though not sur- 
prised to hear him sing: 
86 






REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

"Amazing grace ! How sweet the sound, 
That saved a wretch like me ! 
I once was lost, but now am found. 
Was blind, but now I see. 

" 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, 
And grace my fears relieved; 
How precious did that grace appear 
The hour I first believed! 

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares 
I have already come ; 
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far. 
And grace will lead me home." 

The hymns just referred to illustrate 
the fact that the great hymns of the 
church root back into some of the rich- 
est experiences of which we have any 
knowledge. 

For many years the kingdom of God 
has suffered violence at the hands of 
mercenary people who have flooded the 
market with cheap and unworthy so- 
called "gospel hymns." Christian peo- 
ple should be brought back to an ap- 
preciation of those hymns that have in 
them real merit. Many preachers have 
87 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

allowed themselves to be imposed upon 
by cheap evangelists, who invariably 
force upon them and their believing 
people their own songbooks. It would 
not be fair to say that none of the 
modern gospel songbooks are of any 
real value. Nevertheless, it is a fact 
that the songbooks of most evangelists 
are short-lived and that many of the 
songs used in some evangelistic cam- 
paigns are a travesty on religion. The 
mercenary motives of evangelists are to 
be seen in the refusal of so many to con- 
duct revival meetings unless they can 
have the privilege of selling their own 
books. The income from this source 
alone frequently is more than the church 
pays the evangelist for his services. 

It is a great mistake for preachers 
to think revival meetings, prayer meet- 
ings, and Sunday night services cannot 
be successfully conducted unless popu- 
lar gospel songs are used. For many 
years, I used nothing but the hymnal 
in all the services of the church. A 
88 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

study of the hymns and the circum- 
stances under which they were written 
was not only an inspiration to myself, 
but I soon found that the people be- 
came more interested when they knew 
their history, and soon they preferred 
them to the cheap modern gospel songs. 
Of course people will not take an in- 
terest in the use of the great hymns if 
the preacher is not interested. Not 
enough time and thought are expended 
by preachers upon their plan of action 
in the use of hymns. Their selections 
are made at random and not infre- 
quently there occur long awkward 
pauses in services while the leader is 
endeavoring to find "some familiar 
hymn." This should not be. The 
hymns should always be selected before 
the service begins and with the great- 
est care. In the less formal meetings, 
such as the Sunday night service, the 
midweek prayer service, and the revival 
meeting, a brief reference to the author 
of the hymn and some telling incident 
89 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

in connection with its origin and use 
will cause the people to sing with new 
spirit and meaning. In the last church 
I served as pastor it was my privilege 
to conduct a series of revival services 
that resulted in the conversion of many 
people. The Church Hymnal was 
used exclusively. One feature of each 
service, which I shall always believe had 
much to do with the gracious results, 
was the use of Charles Wesley's great 
hymn written, it is supposed, at the time 
of his conversion. Undoubtedly, it is 
a description of his own experience : 

"And can it be that I should gain 

An interest in the Saviour's blood? 

Died he for me, who caused his pain? 
For me, who him to death pursued? 

Amazing love ! how can it be 

That thou, my Lord, shouldst die for me? 

" 'Tis mystery all ! the Immortal dies ! 
Who can explore his strange design? 
In vain the first-born seraph tries 
To sound the depths of love divine ; 
90 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

'Tis mercy all ! let earth adore : 
Let angel minds inquire no more. 

"He left his Father's throne above, 

So free, so infinite his grace ! 
Emptied himself of all but love. 

And bled for Adam's helpless race ; 
'Tis mercy all, immense and free. 
For, O, my God, it found out me ! 

"Long my imprisoned spirit lay, 

Fast bound in sin and nature's night; 
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, 

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light : 
My chains fell off, my heart was free, 
I rose, went forth, and followed thee, 

"No condemnation now I dread, 
Jesus, with all in him, is mine; 
Alive in him, my living Head, 

And clothed in righteousness divine. 
Bold I approach the eternal throne, 
And claim the crown, through Christ, my 



This great hymn, in some respects 
Charles Wesley's greatest hymn, was 
used throughout the entire series of 
91 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

special meetings, immediately before 
the sermon. It became a great favorite 
with the people and is remembered by 
them to this day. 

As a rule, the most effective hymns 
that can be used when the appeal to the 
unsaved is being made are those having 
choruses that are calculated to stir the 
emotions and bring the undecided to 
immediate decision. Some hymns have 
been honored of God in this respect and 
have become interwoven in the experi- 
ences of vast numbers of people. Who 
is there whose heart is not stirred pro- 
foundly when he hears a congregation 
of earnest devoted Christian people 
sing — 

"Come every soul by sin oppressed. 
There's mercy with the Lord" — 

"Only trust him, only trust him. 
Only trust him now: 
He will save you, he will save you, 
He will save you now." 

"Pass me not, O gentle Saviour," 
92 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

with its wonderful chorus — 

"Saviour, Saviour, hear my humble cry, 
While on others thou art calling, 
Do not pass me by." 

Or, yet again — 

"I am coming to the cross, 
I am poor, and weak and blind, 

with its chorus — 

"I am trusting. Lord, in thee, 
Blest Lamb of Calvary ; 
Humbly at thy cross I bow. 
Save me, Jesus, save me now." 

The contrast between such hymns as 
these and many of the modern so-called 
revival hymns is very great. 

The choir and the organist occupy 
positions of great importance and can 
aid the pastor in his work or be the 
cause of much anguish and sorrow. Too 
much emphasis cannot be placed upon 
the importance of the organist being 
a Christian man or woman. The same 
is true of the choir leader and of mem- 
93 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

bers of the choir. That it is nothing 
short of mockery to have persons in 
these important positions who are not 
Christians is too obvious to require 
argument or exposition. All the music 
of the church should be under the con- 
trol of the pastor. I know this is a 
dehcate question, and that the music 
department of the church is often 
spoken of as the war department, but 
it is nevertheless true that the person 
upon whom rests the responsibility for 
the success of all the services of the 
church should not be hampered in his 
work. Authority must reside in some 
one, and that some one should be the 
pastor. Having said this, there must 
not be left unsaid this other statement, 
namely, that the greatest sympathy 
should exist between the pastor and the 
organist, or choir leader and the singers 
of the choir. In many churches the 
function of the choir should be empha- 
sized more than it is. In fulfilling its 
mission the choir renders a service of 
94 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

the greatest importance. One of the 
glaring defects, however, in the service 
rendered by most choirs is the expres- 
sionless and careless manner in which 
they sing the hynms. No less attention 
should be given to the rendering of 
anthems and the great musical pro- 
ductions of the masters, but more at- 
tention should be paid to the singing of 
hymns. It is frequently the case that 
choirs will spend almost an entire eve- 
ning in rehearsing an anthem that is to 
be rendered the following Sunday, but 
will not sing more than one stanza of 
the hymns that have been chosen by the 
pastor and which bear directly upon 
the message he is to give the people. 
This is a grave mistake. Every hymn 
has a message and it is the high duty 
and privilege of those who lead the con- 
gregation in holy song to so interpret 
the hymns so that the people will catch 
their message. By his own understand- 
ing and appreciation of hymns the pas- 
tor will be careful to select those that 
95 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

will make a real contribution to wor- 
ship of the hour. 

Sometimes pastors suffer from what 
may be called choir -tyramiy. Leaders 
of choirs now and then arrogate to 
themselves rights and privileges which 
do not belong to them. By their un- 
friendly attitude toward the pastor they 
prejudice the members of the choir 
against him. Soon there is a manifest 
spirit of unwilhngness to cooperate 
with the pastor in his plans, and the 
result is very far-reaching. Like the 
minister, the choir is to lead the congre- 
gation in worship, and exists for that 
one purpose. When there is lack of 
harmony between the pastor and the 
choir, neither can render the most eflS- 
cient service and the possibihties of 
evangelism are greatly diminished, if 
not rendered impossible. No people in 
the world are more susceptible to kind- 
hness and respectful consideration, to 
an inteUigent, judicious, and sympa- 
thetic poHcy than are church organists, 
96 



REMAKING OF THE WORLI) 

choir leaders, and singers. Where these 
are Christian people and there exists 
a spirit of sympathy and cooperation 
between them and the pastor there are 
possibilities for evangelism beyond our 
power to reckon. Such a combination 
makes possible an appeal to the un- 
saved through song that is well-nigh 
irresistible. 

The great hymns of the church not 
only make their appeal to the uncon- 
verted. We all cherish certain hymns 
because they remind us of some tender 
experience relating to our lives or to 
those whom we "have loved long since 
and lost awhile.'* They come to us in 
the great crises of life. They brighten 
our hope, strengthen our faith, and 
soothe the hurt of a broken heart. 

My own dear mother as she lay upon 
her dying bed, after many years of the 
severest suffering and invalidhood, fell 
into a very sound sleep. It was only a 
night or two before her outgoing. My 
father was keeping his faithful vigil, 
97 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

when suddenly he heard a familiar voice 
singing, 

"0 Thou, in whose presence my soul takes 
delight, 
On whom in affliction I call, 
My comfort by day, and my song in the 
night. 
My hope, my salvation, my aU !" 

It was my mother's voice singing in a 
marvelously clear tone the hjonn that 
had been a favorite with her all her hfe. 
Though asleep she sang every verse 
clear through to the end. Other mem- 
bers of the family were awakened by it 
and hstened in breathless silence, for it 
was like the song of an angel. She did 
not waken for some time after she had 
ceased singing, and when told of what 
had taken place she was not surprised, 
for the hymns of the church had been 
such a comfort to her throughout her 
entire life. 

It brought to mind the words of 
David, ''I call to remembrance my song 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

in the night." I would not part with 
the memory I cherish of that hymn for 
the wealth of the world. Some things 
are more precious than gold. 

The more general use of the great 
hymns would enrich the hf e of the 
church and train the present generation 
to an appreciation of that kind of 
sacred song which has been the glory of 
the church throughout all her history. 



99 



I 



IV 

EVANGELISM IN SOCIAL 
SERVICE 



IV 

EVANGELISM IN SOCIAL 
SERVICE 

The Old Testament is pervaded with 
a vivid sense of the nation as a hving 
being. Israel is addressed in a most 
personal manner and is invited, warned, 
punished, and rewarded by Jehovah. 
The Jew regarded his nation as chosen 
of God, called out of Egypt, led 
through the devious wilderness wander- 
ings, and the heir of all the promises. 
It is from the Hebrews that we have 
received our ethical and religious con- 
ceptions, and these were based upon the 
family. God was thought of as a 
Father, men as his children, and the 
natural result was an organized social 
life, the nation being its highest ex- 
pression. 

Social service, as the term is under- 
103 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

stood to-day, is scarcely to be found in 
the Old Testament. There was social 
unrest. Law and prophecy burned 
with a demand for social justice. There 
were laws dealing with practically every 
human relationship, and for centuries 
the prophets of Israel thundered 
against all manner of social wrongs. 
More than one prophet's voice cried out 
against that form of religious worship 
that divorced itself from human or 
social service. 

Elijah, Isaiah, and other prophets 
blazed with indignation at national and 
social wrongs, and resented, at the risk 
of their own lives, the despotic methods 
of the rulers of their day. ''Woe unto 
them," thundered Isaiah, ''that decree 
unrighteous decrees, and that write 
grievousness which they have pre- 
scribed; to turn aside the needy from 
judgment, and to take away the right 
from the poor of my people, that 
widows may be their prey, and that they 
may rob the fatherless!" The prophets 
104 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

insisted that individual and national 
life must be built upon righteousness. 
They declared this to be the unalterable 
demand of the one true God, and that 
he would be satisfied with nothing else. 
They held up to scorn the idea that the 
nation could obtain divine pardon by 
a multiphcation of sacrifices. 

The words of Isaiah which are so 
frequently used by those preaching re- 
vival sermons, "Though your sins be 
as scarlet, they shall be as white as 
snow; though they be red hke crimson, 
they shall be as wool," have no refer- 
ence whatever to personal pardon, but, 
rather, to the aboHtion of social wrongs. 
The prophet is saying that only as a 
nation seeks the overthrow of social in- 
justice and oppression can it gain the 
favor of God. 

In the Old Testament this salvation 
of the individual is bound up with the 
moral character and destiny of his na- 
tion. Professor Walter Rauschen- 
busch says: ''The religious ideal of 
105 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Israel was the theocracy. But the 
theocracy meant the complete penetra- 
tion of the national hfe by rehgious 
morality. It meant politics in the name 
of God. That line by which we have 
tacitly separated the domain of pubKc 
affairs and the domain of Christian hfe 
was miknown to them. The prophets 
were not religious individualists. Dur- 
ing the classical times of prophetism 
they always dealt with Israel and Judah 
as organic totalities. They conceived 
of their people as a gigantic personality 
which sinned as one and ought to repent 
as one. When they speak of their na- 
tion as a virgin, as a city, as a vine, they 
are attempting by these figures of 
speech to express this organic and cor- 
porate social hfe. In this respect 
they anticipated a modern conception 
which now underhes our scientific com- 
prehension of social development and 
on which modern historical studies are 
based. ... It was only when the na- 
tional hfe of Israel was crushed by for- 
106 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

eign invaders that the prophets began 
to address themselves to the individual 
life and lost the large horizon of public 
life." 

The keynote of the messages of the 
prophets finds expression in the words 
of Hosea which Jesus himself fre- 
quently quoted — "For I desired mercy, 
and not sacrifice ; and the knowledge of 
God more than burnt oflFerings." 

Isaiah expresses the same thought 
when he says: "Bring no more vain 
oblations; incense is an abomination 
unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, 
the calling of assemblies, I cannot away 
with; it is iniquity, even the solemn 
meeting. Your new moons and your 
appointed feasts my soul hateth: they 
are a trouble unto me; I am weary to 
bear them. . . . Wash you, make you 
clean; put away the evil of your doings 
from before mine eyes, cease to do evil ; 
learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve 
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, 
plead for the widow." 
107 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

The prophets struck at the very heart 
of wrong and injustice, threw them- 
selves against the mockeries of mere 
rituaHstic observance, and strenuously- 
opposed the fallacy that rehgion and 
ethics can be separated. 

Although social service was prac- 
tically unknown in the Old Testament, 
the social ideal was not wanting. 

Jesus said, "Think not that I am 
come to destroy the law, or the proph- 
ets: I am not come to destroy, but to 
fulfill." In Jesus Christ, we find not 
only the fulfillment of the predictions 
of the prophets but in Him there is the 
fullest and most perfect reaUzation of 
their teaching. 

"In the harmony of the two revela- 
tions," says Professor A. F. Kirk- 
patrick, "we shall hear the voice of God 
speaking to men, not the voices of men 
striving to express their aspirations 
after God. The prophecies are not hu- 
man ideals, but divine ideas." 

Not merely prophecy, but Old Testa- 
108 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

ment law as well, throbs and beats with 
a demand for social justice. If Jesus 
"came not to destroy but to fulfill," it 
is unthinkable that he could have no 
social ideal. What, then, was the social 
ideal of Jesus? 

At the very outset it should be 
affirmed that Jesus Christ was in the 
most profound sense of the term the 
climax of God's revelation to this world. 
His supreme purpose was to reveal the 
Fatherhood of God and to lead men 
back to a glad submission to his will, 
and to inspire them with a holy desire 
for sacrificial service as the master 
motive of their lives. He was not 
merely a teacher or a prophet. He was 
not a social reformer. We find the 
ideal of Jesus in the ultimate aim of 
his life. It is absolutely unfair to take 
here and there a quotation from the 
sayings of our Lord and by that means 
prove that he is above and beyond all 
things a social reformer. Should any 
future historian write a biography of 
109 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

President Woodrow Wilson and at- 
tempt to defend the proposition that he 
was above all things else a war Presi- 
dent, he would be guilty of an inex- 
cusable misrepresentation of the man. 
That he has had a large and worthy 
part in the war of nations, will of 
course be admitted, and the statement 
defended, but who will be so bold as 
to declare that he was first and fore- 
most a war President? Future gen- 
erations will think of him as the man 
who would "make the world safe for 
democracy," who would "make the 
world a safe place to live in," who 
would lead the great American repub- 
lic to marshal its resources of men and 
money, in order that Prussian militar- 
ism might be smitten dead and orga- 
nized cruelty overthrown and forever 
destroyed. But they will also think of 
him as the peace President, whose chief 
aim and ambition found expression in 
an all-consuming desire for world peace. 
He who exalts the social ministry of 
110 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Jesus at the expense of his Messianic 
mission hurls insult into the face of a 
righteous and loving God, who sent 
,''his only begotten Son" into this sin- 
stricken and lust-smitten world "to seek 
and to save the lost." 

This statement is made mindful of 
the fact that a very large proportion of 
the teachings of Jesus deal with human 
relationships. He himself had per- 
sonal and intimate contact with the life 
of his time. He did not withdraw him- 
self from the world. He mingled with 
men so freely that his enemies called 
him ''a gluttonous man and a wine-bib- 
ber." There were two outstanding 
words he frequently employed in giv- 
ing his message. One was ''Come" and 
the other was "Go." No one ever 
sought to know him as Lord and Mas- 
ter who did not go from his presence 
fired with a holy desire to make others 
acquainted with him. He mingled 
among men and sent out his disciples 
to do the same thing. As a proof of 
111 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

the fact that he did not shrink from 
coming in contact with people, it should 
be remembered that twenty-six of the 
recorded miracles of Christ were mir- 
acles of the healing of the body, while 
two others supplied bodily food. He 
was present at the wedding feast in 
Cana of Gahlee and he dined in the 
home of the Pharisee. 

The social ideal of Jesus is to be 
found in His doctrine of the kingdom 
of God, or the kingdom of heaven. He 
left to the world no definition of what 
he meant by the phrase. In the very 
beginning of his ministry Jesus de- 
clared that the kingdom of God was at 
hand. This was the message that was 
upon the lips of his disciples. He in- 
structed them in every city to make the 
same declaration concerning the King- 
dom. In his parables, he expounded 
the Kingdom and made plain the rela- 
tion of men to it. His own personal 
relation to it is that of Founder. It 
is his kingdom as well as the Father's 
112 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

and he is Lord and King over it. "The 
Son of man shall send forth his angels, 
and they shall gather out of his king- 
dom all things that offend, and them 
that do iniquity." Not only is he Lord 
of the Kingdom, but he is also the vital 
germ of it, "It is through vital rela- 
tion to him, as the synoptics and still 
more clearly the fourth Gospel empha- 
size — ^through reception of his Person 
and message, through faith in him, sur- 
render to him, submission to his rule, 
keeping his commandments, which is 
synonymous with doing the will of the 
Father through union with him as the 
branches and the vine — ^that the King- 
dom is constituted." The Kingdom as 
taught by Jesus is a spiritual kingdom. 
It is a principle working from within 
outward for the renewal and trans- 
formation of every department of our 
earthly hfe. The kingdom of God may 
be said to be the rule and reign of God's 
law and love in the hearts of men. 
"The kingdom of God cometh not with 
113 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

observation: neither shall they say, Lo 
here! or, lo there! for, behold, the king- 
dom of God is within you.'' The mes- 
sage of the Master was, therefore, not 
political, not economic, but spiritual. 
Wherever the kingdom of God is estab- 
lished in the hearts of men there is at 
once a new social order. 

Furthermore, his message was per- 
sonal. It had in it all the elements that 
make for a new social order, but his 
gospel was primarily an individual gos- 
pel. He desired to plant within men's 
hearts his message, knowing full well 
that if it became operative it would 
issue in a social order that would make 
"all things new." Most of his teaching 
had direct bearing upon the Hfe of the 
individual. This is especially true of 
his parables and miracles. A study of 
his conversations with individuals re- 
veals the same principle that lies at the 
very heart of his message. The cry of 
his heart was ''Repent!" His one de- 
sire was that men should come back to 
114 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

God. It was not enough that they 
should have better clothing, better 
homes, higher wages — ^in a word, that 
the physical conditions of their lives be 
improved. These were of great import- 
ance. There was something, however, 
more fundamental in his message than 
any or all of these things, and that was 
that men everywhere should experience 
a change of mind and heart toward 
God. He said, "But seek ye first the 
kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; 
and all these things shall be added unto 
you/' The Pharisees endeavored to 
trap him and to side-track him. They 
said, "Is it lawful to give tribute unto 
Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived 
their wickedness and said. Why tempt 
ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the 
tribute money. And they brought unto 
him a penny. And he said unto them. 
Whose is this image and superscription? 
They said unto him, Caesar's. Then 
saith he unto them. Render, therefore, 
unto Caesar the things which are 
115 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Caesar's; and unto God the things that 
are God's." 

But the Pharisees were not satisfied 
with this, and later in the day sent a 
lawyer who was intent on silencing 
Jesus as Jesus had silenced the Sad- 
ducees. His question was, "Master, 
which is the great commandment in the 
law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy mind. This is the first and great 
commandment. And the second is hke 
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself. On these two command- 
ments hang all the law and the 
prophets." 

These two great laws are so related 
that the one is the logical outcome of 
the other. He who loves God with all 
his heart and with all his mind, will love 
his neighbor as himself. And whenever 
these two great laws operate in the 
minds and hearts of men you have the 
kingdom of God, and not imtil then can 
116 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

the petition in the model prayer, "Thy 
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven," 
be fully realized. Therefore, while 
Christ's message throbs and beats with 
social impulse, it is primarily spiritual. 

As a result of the teachings of Jesus, 
pulsating with the social passion as they 
do, the early Christian Church soon 
gave heed to the social needs of the 
people. Bunson says: "These Chris- 
tians belonged to no nation and to no 
state, but their fatherland in heaven was 
to them a reality, and the love of the 
brethren, in truth and not in words, 
made the Christian congregation the 
foreshadowing of a Christian common- 
wealth and model for all ages to come." 

In his History of the Christian 
Church, Hurst says: "One of the first 
evidences of this fraternal sense is to 
be found in the help which was extended 
to the needy. The poor in Jerusalem, 
for whom Paul collected contributions 
from the Greek Christians in Asia 
Minor, were only the first to receive the 
117 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

benefit of this early tender sympathy 
of the strong for the weak. Benefi- 
cence became the law, and not the im- 
pulse of a generous hour, which entered 
into the whole life of the early church. 
No needy society was forgotten in its 
silent sorrow Whether of mere poverty 
or unsparing persecution." In this 
they formed a striking contrast to the 
pagans about them. During a pesti- 
lence in North Africa, in the reign of 
Gallus, the Christians at Carthage dis- 
tinguished themselves by their brotherly 
kindness and by their sacrificial service 
in the interests of others. The pagans 
deserted their sick and dying and re- 
fused to touch the bodies of the dead. 
Soon the streets were covered with 
bodies of victims of the scourge. In 
many instances avarice overcame their 
fear of death and the bodies of the dead 
were stripped of clothing and valuables. 
Cyprian in exhorting his church to look 
upon the desolating scourge as a trial 
of their faith said, "How necessary it 
118 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

is, my dear brethren, that this pestilence 
which appears among us, bringing with 
it death and destruction, should try 
men's souls — should show whether the 
healthy will take care of the sick; 
whether relations have a tender regard 
for each other; whether masters will 
take home their sick servants." He 
was not satisfied, however, with a mere 
statement, but went a step further, 
called his church together and addressed 
them in the following words: "If we do 
good only to our own, we do no more 
than the publicans and heathens. But 
if we are the children of God, who 
makes his sun rise and sends his rain on 
the just and on the unjust, who scat- 
ters his gifts and blessings not barely 
on his own, but even on those whose 
thoughts are far from him, we must 
show it by our actions, striving to be 
perfect, even as our Father in heaven 
is perfect, blessing those that curse us, 
and doing good to them that despite- 
fully use us." As a result of his ap- 
119 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

peal to the church the members im- 
mediately divided the work among 
themselves. The rich gave of their sub- 
stance, the poor contributed their labor ; 
and in a short time, the bodies which 
filled the streets were buried and the 
city delivered from the danger of a uni- 
versal infection. 

One of the most concise, as well as 
one of the most complete, statements 
of the effect of the teachings of Jesus 
upon the social order is that given by 
SchaflF: "Under the inspiring influence 
of Christ's teaching and example, the 
Christian Church asserted the individ- 
ual rights of man ; recognized the divine 
image in every rational being; taught 
the common creation, and the common 
redemption, and the destination of all 
for immortality and glory; raised the 
humble and lowly; comforted the 
prisoner and captive, the stranger and 
exile; proclaimed chastity, as a funda- 
mental virtue, elevated woman to a 
dignity and equahty with man ; upheld 
120 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

the sanctity of the marriage tie; laid 
the foundations of the Christian family 
and home ; moderated the evils and un- 
dermined the foundations of slavery; 
opposed polygamy and concubinage; 
denounced the exposure of children as 
murder; made relentless war on the 
bloody games of the arena and circus, 
on the shocking indecencies of the 
theater, and on cruelty, oppression, and 
vice; infused into a heartless and love- 
less world the spirit of love and brother- 
hood; transformed sinners into saints, 
frail women into heroines, and lit up 
the darkness of the tomb by the bright 
ray of unending bliss of heaven." 

The teachings of Jesus have literally 
saturated literature, created new social 
ideals, influenced the education of 
statesmen and public leaders, and have 
dominated the social conscience 
throughout the world. The Christian 
Church has passed through many crises. 
She was compelled to determine what 
her attitude should be toward the 
121 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Roman empire and the Greek philoso- 
phy. In the Middle Ages she had to 
face the question of her relation to those 
processes which were bringing to exist- 
ence a new Europe. During the 
Renaissance she was confronted by the 
problem of the new learning. In the 
Reformation she struggled with the 
question of her relation to the new in- 
dividualism in rehgion and politics, and 
in the period of revolutions, wrestled 
with the theories of natural rights and 
vested privileges. These were all great 
crises, but none were more vital to the 
well-being of the world than that 
through which she is now passing. The 
past twenty-five years have witnessed 
an earnest effort on the part of the 
church to recover the social impulse of 
her earliest days. Prior to this time she 
was in grave danger of losing her social 
vision. With changing social condi- 
tions, the church too frequently with- 
drew from the field and sought "a more 
favorable location." Instead of placing 
122 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

herself in a position whereby she could 
understand and sympathize with the 
masses, again and again the church 
moved away, leaving the community 
and its far-reaching interests to the 
mercy of street preachers and agitators, 
whose ideals were in direct antagonism 
to those for which the church stands. 

The policy of moving the church 
away from the densely populated por- 
tions of the great cities, which, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, the church 
seems to have adopted, undoubtedly ac- 
counts, in part at least, for the appall- 
ing fact that out of the one hundred 
million who compose the population of 
the United States of America, no less 
than sixty million report themselves as 
having no connection whatever with any 
church, either Protestant or Roman 
Catholic. 

For a quarter of a century, however, 

the church has been making a noble 

effort to live up to her earliest social 

ideals, adapted, of course, to the needs 

123 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

of the living present. It may safely be 
said that the dominant activity of 
modern Christianity is social. This is 
particularly true of Protestantism in 
Great Britain and America. 

The social ministry of the church is 
a gracious one. Schools, hospitals, and 
homes for the aged have been erected 
and endowed. Nm^ses have been trained 
and have gone into the homes of the 
poor, ministering gladly and without 
charge in the name of the Lord Christ. 
The bhnd have been taught to read and 
the deaf to speak. Waifs of the city 
streets have been gathered into homes 
and provided with all the blessings of 
the more favored classes. The church 
has led in campaigns against the hquor 
traffic and has conducted moral reform 
movements that have put red-hght dis- 
tricts out of business and reduced the 
possibihty of graft in pubhc officials to 
a minimum. It has organized social 
settlements and other philanthropic in- 
stitutions of various kinds. To mention 
124 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

all the activities in which the church is 
engaged in carrying on her social min- 
istry would require time and space to 
no purpose. 

The Church of God must not be 
satisfied with alleviating physical suf- 
fering and in temporarily supplying 
the needs of the poor. Never before 
has she made as earnest an effort to 
discover the causes of misery, and suf- 
fering, and social discontent as she is 
making to-day. It is from this sympa- 
thetic standpoint that she is approach- 
ing the labor question. 

The present-day church without 
some kind of a social program is a back 
nimaber. Most ministers realize, or are 
coming to realize, that unless the church 
has some kind of a social program it 
will make but scant impression upon 
the community, and its influence will be 
more or less a negligible quantity. 

In their eagerness to develop a social 
ministry for the church, large numbers 
of persons have unfortunately become 
125 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

extremists. They have conceived of 
the social movement as it is related to 
Christianity in a secular rather than in 
a spiritual sense. Their plans for social 
betterment are an end in themselves 
rather than a means to an end. The 
passion for the spiritual regeneration 
of men and women is noticeably absent. 
The personal note of appeal for men 
and women to surrender their lives to 
Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour is 
never heard. I have hstened eagerly 
and sympathetically to noted lecturers, 
who are known as social-service experts. 
They have shown a sympathetic grasp 
of their subject and have explained in 
very clear terms what they believe to 
be the cause of social discontent, but 
they have said nothing about the per- 
sonal, divine Christ and his power to 
transform the lives of men. It is at this 
most vital point that they have failed. 
In hke manner attempts have been 
made to carry on church work purely 
from the standpoint of social service. 
126 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

In order to secure the attendance of 
large numbers of people methods have 
been adopted that have been anything 
but creditable to the Church of God. 
,The passion has not been for souls, but 
for crowds. The entertainment fea- 
ture not infrequently becomes so promi- 
nent that the church itself is trans- 
formed into an ecclesiastical vaudeville 
and the preaching of the gospel rele- 
gated to a place of secondary import- 
ance. Says Shailer Mathews: To 
make a church a rehgionless mixture of 
civil-service reform, debating societies, 
gymnasiums, suppers, concerts, stere- 
opticon lectures, good advice, refined 
negro ministrel shows, and dramatic 
entertainments is to bring it into com- 
petition with the variety theater, and 
when the masses have to choose between 
that sort of church and its rival, if they 
have any sense left within their per- 
plexed heads, they will choose the 
variety theater. That at least is per- 
forming its proper social function." 
127 



EVAXGELISM IN THE 

Wliat this old world needs most is 
a fresh reahzation of the fact that Jesus 
Christ is the divine Saviom- from sin. 
Much is being said about the period of 
reconstruction. Some statesmen, pub- 
licists, and theologians are having much 
to say about the new rehgion that is to 
be after the war. That there will be 
new conditions, no informed person can 
doubt. The world will never be what it 
was prior to the year 1914. In a very 
real sense of the term "old things have 
passed away." The world has become 
a brotherhood. Race prejudice, though 
by no means dead, is being greatly 
modified. A common peril and a com- 
mon purpose to be dehvered from the 
common peril have brought many na- 
tions together in the bond of a common 
brotherhood. But the prophets of a 
new rehgion will find that the days of 
peace will hold no new rehgion, but 
that they will contain a purified Chi'is- 
tianity. Already it has been clearly re- 
vealed that the soldier on the battle- 
128 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

field wants to know more about God. 
He is not concerned about ecclesiastical 
strife and denominational differences 
and time-worn platitudes. The hunger 
of his soul is expressed in the words of 
the dying soldier in the trench, who, a 
few seconds before he breathed his last, 
turned to a comrade and said, "What 
can you tell me about God, quick?" 

"A student of world problems re- 
cently visited the battlefront in France 
and returned to say to his countrymen: 
'Here in France among the soldiers a 
new and elemental conception of reh- 
gion has developed. It has Uttle creed, 
and certainly no sectarianism; ecclesi- 
astics back home might be startled into 
something like awakeness could they 
but realize how little the things that 
bulk so large in their life mean to the 
soldier. These soldiers care nothing for 
the differences that divide Episcopa- 
lians and Methodists and Presbyterians 
and Baptists. They are interested in 
God, and whether or not he answers 
129 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

prayers, and the relation between him 
and the great considerations of right- 
eousness for which the AUies stand. As 
for the shop talk of the churches, over 
here they confess that they never were 
in the habit of paying any attention to 
that; 

"Three words characterize the reli- 
gion of the American soldier: sim- 
plicity, brotherhood, and service. Faith 
is stripped to the buff in the trenches. 
Nobody cares for any elaborate expres- 
sion of beUef . These men beheve they 
are doing their bit for God when they 
help break the grip of the Hun upon 
the earth. They are convinced that the 
essential righteousness of our cause 
makes it God's cause. If we have much 
at stake in this war, God has more. 
Therefore, they are serving him when 
they go ahead in uncomplaining loyalty 
to do their part in winning the war. 
Fidehty to the task is the first expres- 
sion of worship." 

The nations of the world are giving 
130 



1 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

to religion a larger place than they did 
before the outbreak of the war. That 
is especially true of America, Great 
Britain, and France. 

These days of the reconstruction 
offer the church her greatest opportu- 
nity. In order to fulfill her mission she 
must have with the social vision and 
program that spiritual appeal which 
will present the living Christ as Lord 
and Master. 

Preachers and churches must be 
ready for the millions of soldiers who 
will return to peaceful pursuits when 
peace is actually established. They will 
return with their new experiences and 
broadened and deepened conceptions of 
religion and brotherhood; of God the 
Father and of Jesus Christ his Son; of 
society, the church, and the nation. 
When that time comes the preacher of 
the gospel must be ready. His message 
must be real. He must speak from ex- 
perience — ^the experience of the new 
birth. He must absolutely believe that 
131 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Jesus Christ is the Saviour of men be- 
cause He is his Saviour, and his whole 
life must give evidence of a great heart- 
ache that will not cease until he sees 
men and women accepting Him as 
"Lord to the Glory of God the Father." 
The period of reconstruction is here, 
and the age demands the practical ap- 
plication of the social gospel to the 
needs of the time. But human nature 
is the same the world over and it will 
never outgrow its need of Jesus Christ 
the divine Son of God, the personal 
Saviour of men. Changing social con- 
ditions may cut new channels. The pos- 
sibilities for serving humanity will be 
greatly enlarged. But no program, 
social or educational, can ever lessen 
the importance or do away with the 
need for God to perform his transform- 
ing work in the hearts of men. 
Heredity, social environment, and edu- 
cation are of exceeding great import- 
ance, but that which is of still greater 
importance, yea, that which is of su- 
132 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

premely great importance is that men 
everywhere shall know Jesus Christ as 
a personal Saviour. 

God demands of his church in this 
new day an apostolic faith and a holy 
passion to see men saved from sin. 

May the whole church gird herself 
for the new and glorious task! 



133 



EVANGELISM IN THE SUN- 
DAY NIGHT SERVICE 



I 



V 

EVANGELISM IN THE SUN- 
DAY NIGHT SERVICE 

The Sunday night service is becom- 
ing increasingly a problem. With 
many pastors the question is not what 
kind of service shall be held, but 
whether there shall be held any service 
whatever. 

Large numbers of churches have 
utterly abandoned this very important 
service, or have merged it into the 
young people's vesper service. Of the 
many reasons assigned, the following 
are most frequently heard: It is impos- 
sible in these days for a minister to pre- 
pare for the same congregation two 
sermons a week, that will command the 
attention and respect of intelligent and 
well-informed people; the second 
preaching service taxes unduly the 
strength of those who, for one reason 
137 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

or another, feel obligated to attend the 
morning service and also the Sunday 
school; the social hfe is such that large 
numbers of church members devote 
Sunday afternoon and evening to visit- 
ing, and believe that is sufficient excuse 
for not attending the evening preach- 
ing service; many people hve at such 
great distances from the church where 
they have their membership that they 
cannot afford the expense of two trips 
for the family; a majority of church 
members do not want a second preach- 
ing service and will not support it. 

In addition to the reasons above 
stated, it must be remembered that the 
homes of many church members are 
well supplied with the best current lit- 
erature, both secular and reUgious, and 
that Sunday evening affords an excel- 
lent opportunity for reading and con- 
versation. It also affords an opportu- 
nity to rest before entering upon a 
strenuous and nerve-racking week of 
business that is just ahead. 
138 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

These are not imaginary, but real 
difficulties, as every pastor well knows. 
The question of first importance is. 
Does the Sunday night preaching serv- 
ice meet a real need in the Hves of any 
considerable number of people? 

An experience of a considerable num- 
ber of years in the pastorate, a close 
study of the subject, and an opportu- 
nity for wide observation leads me to 
say that there is a crying need for the 
Sunday night service. 

During one of my pastorates there 
was a gentleman who attended the Sun- 
day night service regularly, but was 
seldom, if ever, present in any morning 
service. One day in conversation with 
him I said: "I see you regularly in the 
evening service, but never in the morn- 
ing. Is it impossible for you to be pres- 
ent at the Sunday morning service?" 

He replied, "I am, unless ill, always 

present at the evening service, but I am 

never present in the morning." He 

then proceeded to state his reasons. He 

139 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

is unable to close his place of business 
before eleven o'clock on Saturday 
night, and often it is eleven-thirty or 
twelve o'clock before the last customer 
leaves. The store must then be put to 
rights and everything made ready for 
business Monday morning. It is, con- 
sequently, very late when he reaches his 
home. Tired, and well-nigh exhausted, 
he retires feeling that he is justified in 
sleeping until a late hour Sunday morn- 
ing. This is not an extreme case. It 
can be duphcated in the membership of 
many other churches, especially those 
of the cities. Many mothers and house- 
wives offer just as reasonable excuses 
for not attending the morning service, 
and wage-earning women excuse them- 
selves from church attendance Sunday 
mornings for reasons equally as vahd. 
Furthermore, in every community there 
are large numbers of persons unat- 
tached to any church, and if they attend 
church service at all, it is usually in the 
evening. If it were not for the eve- 
140 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

ning service, many young people in- 
stead of being found in the church 
would be in the theater, the "movie," 
or in some other place of amusement. 

The mere recital of these facts is 
ample support of the statement that 
there is a real need for the Sunday night 
service.^ 

There is another outstanding reason 
for the maintenance of the Sunday 
evening service. It affords the best 
opportunity of the week for the minis- 
ter to reach the nonchurchgoing and 
unconverted people of the community. 

Every minister who preaches to even 
fairly large Sunday evening congrega- 
tions is heard by more unconverted peo- 
ple in one such service than in several 
Sunday morning services. It is the 
preacher's greatest opportunity of the 
week. It should be a fitting climax of 
all that has preceded. It is the time 
when the preacher should go a-fishing. 

The morning service is the preacher's 

^ See Methodist Review. 

141 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

opportunity to instruct and teach his 
people in the things of God. In a word, 
to build up believers in the most holy- 
faith, to comfort them in the gospel, and 
to send them back to their homes 
"rooted and grounded in love." It 
should be a stately service, but not lack- 
ing in sympathy and power. The eve- 
ning service should be less formal than 
that of the morning and should be brief, 
bright, and brotherly. 

Undoubtedly the question that is 
upon the lips of many preachers when 
the importance of the Sunday evening 
service is urged is. How can a hearing 
on Sunday night be secured? 

Here is the crux of the whole ques- 
tion. Many preachers are too quick in 
beating a retreat. In many instances 
the surrender is made before the battle 
is on. Too many throw up their hands 
and say, "It is simply impossible to 
maintain an evening service. The peo- 
ple do not want, will not support it, 
and that ends it." We should not lose 
142 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

sight of the truth that nothing is im- 
possible until it is too hard for God to 
do. 

One thing is certain, and that is, if 
the Sunday night service is to be a suc- 
cess, it will require work — ^hard work. 
It matters not who the minister is, or 
what kind of church he is serving, 
whether it be the rural church, the 
church in a small town or village, the 
small church in a large city, or the great 
chiu^ch in the heart of the metropolis, 
he will discover, if he has not already 
done so, that in these days it is no small 
task to maintain for any great length 
of time a sustained interest in the eve- 
ning service. Sometimes it is said that 
it does not matter who is the pastor of 
such and such a church, the congrega- 
tions are always large. In the words 
of the lamented Professor S. F. Up- 
ham, "I deny the allegation and defy 
the allegator.'' 

He who succeeds will do so at the 
cost of hard, patient, and persistent 
143 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

work. It will be at the expense of 
brain sweat and heart agony. What 
of it? ,,g^ strong! 

We are not here to play, to dream, to drift, 
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. 
Shun not the struggle, face it, 'tis God's 
gift."i 

Four things suggest themselves as a 
possible solution of this problem. It 
must be admitted that even these may 
exist under certain conditions, and still 
the Sunday night service not be what 
we could desire. However, where the 
Sunday night service is successful, these 
four elements will not be lacking. 

First. The minister must believe in 
the importance of the service. He can- 
not afford to regard it as of secondary 
importance to the morning service. If 
he does not beheve in its importance, 
the sermon will show it. The people 
will be quick to detect the pastor's in- 
difference, and the more thoughtful of 

^ From Thoughts for Every-Day Living, copyright, 
1901, by Charles Scribner's Sons. By permission of 
the publishers. 

144 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

his congregation will observe that the 
sermon lacks thoroughness of prepara- 
tion and earnestness in dehvery. As a 
result the indifference of the people will 
be manifold more pronounced than the 
preacher's, and ere long large numbers 
of church members, even those who are 
30 situated as to be able to attend the 
evening service as well as the morning, 
will be conspicuous for their absence. 
As a rule, in church work people do not 
give much thought or attention to the 
things in which the pastor does not 
profoundly believe. Many an evening 
preaching service has struggled for 
existence or died out entirely because 
the pastor failed to impress the people 
that he believed profoundly in its im- 
portance. The pastor is the key to the 
situation, and no church can hope for 
a large and enthusiastic evening service 
unless he heartily believes in it. Once 
convinced that the evening service is of 
vital importance and that it offers a 
great evangelistic opportunity, the 
145 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

pastor will take new interest in the 
preparation of his sermons. His en- 
thusiasm will inspire the people, and 
soon the service will attract those who 
had lost all interest in it or who had 
given it no thought whatsoever. 

Thus convinced of its importance, 
the pastor will plan to give the people 
something to which they may look for- 
ward. To that end the preacher must 
choose his subjects and select his themes 
with greatest care. They should be 
biblical of course, but they should also 
reveal the preacher's knowledge of and 
interest in the things uppermost in the 
minds of the people. Not infrequently 
do we see in the church notices which 
appear in the daily press subjects that 
cause disgust. Many times the subjects 
announced are an embarrassment to the 
supporting members of the church 
rather than an inspiration. In their 
efforts to avoid the commonplace in the 
selection of subjects some preachers go 
too far the other way. The result is 
146 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

many of the more devout church mem- 
bers are grieved, while even the uncon- 
verted and worldly turn away with a 
sneer. The subject of the sermon must 
show strength, must be dignified, and 
must relate practically to the life of to- 
day. 

It is a good thing to announce the 
subject of a sermon at least a week in 
advance. Some preachers do not ap- 
prove of this method, and never an- 
nounce any subject. They believe the 
people should be trained to attend 
church for worship, and not simply to 
listen to a sermon. There is much that 
can be said in favor of this. We are, 
however, living in days of tremendous 
stir. Few preachers can conmiand at- 
tention to any great extent simply by 
announcing that there will be preach- 
ing services at a certain hour. In order 
to have a hearing on Sunday night, the 
preacher should command the attention 
of people by the very subjects he 
chooses. 

147 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

One of the most successful methods 
for maintaining constant and increas- 
ing interest in this service is for the pas- 
tor to dehver from two to three series 
of sermons throughout the year. At 
other times he may speak on the sub- 
jects of compelhng pubhc interest to 
the community or nation. Special men- 
tion should be made of such sermons 
or series of sermons, from one to two 
weeks in advance, and whenever pos- 
sible some Hne of thought should be 
suggested from the pulpit which will be 
given special emphasis in a single ser- 
mon, or series of sermons. This will 
usually command the attention of the 
people, will give them something to 
which they may look forward. A wise 
use of printer's ink may be a great fac- 
tor in helping to maintain the Sunday 
night service. There is much money 
wasted, however, in the efforts men 
make to advertise. A Httle of the right 
kind of publicity goes a long ways. A 
small fortune may be spent in the 
148 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

wrong kind of advertising, and it will 
avail nothing. 

Whatever the plan adopted in order 
to bring the work of the church to the 
attention of the community, all such 
efforts will be futile unless the minister 
believes tremendously in the importance 
of the Sunday night service. 

Second. The preacher must believe 
the gospel he preaches. Professor 
Shailer Mathews raised the question, 
"How shall we preach this gospel of 
the risen Christ?" and answers it as fol- 
lows: "Above all else, positively; with 
a contagious conviction. A man will 
neither fear nor love a God under in- 
vestigation. With the passion of a 
moral physician who knows that sin is 
a deadly curse — not a term of the 
schoolman. And, up to the utmost limit 
of our convictions, with an emphasis 
upon both its experimental and its his- 
torical elements." It would be difficult 
to improve upon this answer. How- 
ever, unless the minister has an un- 
149 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

wavering belief in the gospel he 
preaches, it will be impossible for him 
to meet the requirements of the answer. 
A firm belief is of supreme importance. 
He who gives his people to understand 
that the Bible is merely a collection of 
folklore, myths, and legends need not 
look for a large measure of success in 
the Christian ministry. 

Attacks upon the doctrine of the 
Virgin birth and the resurrection of our 
Lord are being renewed to-day in the 
light of modern science. Instead of 
being uncompromising defenders of the 
faith, and saying with the apostle Paul, 
"I am set for the defense of the gos- 
pel," there are those who deny the 
bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 
with Professor Lake regard as myths, 
pure and simple, the accounts contained 
in the Gospels of the resurrection of 
Christ's body from the grave. In the 
same manner do they regard the Virgin 
birth of our Lord. 

One of the most prominent questions 
150 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

before the church to-day, according to 
Professor James Orr, is the admissi- 
bihty of the supernatural in the form 
of miracle. This question, from the 
standpoint of modern scientific thought, 
is worrying many Christian ministers. 
It has so shaken the faith of some 
that their preaching is anything but 
positive. 

Then there are those who are placing 
unnecessarily, in some instances, ex- 
treme emphasis upon "the psychology 
of conversion." There are those who 
are filling "the minds of the uncon- 
verted with the notion that at any time 
they may proceed along lines of psy- 
chology or New Thought to all that is 
necessary." They hasten to know what 
some professor of physical or mental 
science has to say about conversion and 
religious experience and then thrust his 
views upon congregations that are 
hungry for the gospel. The preaching 
of such men lacks the essential, positive 
note, and raises in the minds of the 
151 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

hearers the question, What is the 
preacher's attitude toward the Bible as 
the Word of God? Does he really be- 
lieve the gospel of Jesus Christ? It 
has been well said that "modern theo- 
logians who sneer at the old religion, 
and substitute for the old gospel a sys- 
tem of comfortable ethical self-culture, 
are emptying churches to-day/' Such 
preachers can never have a large hear- 
ing in the Christian Church, and they 
are usually the first to give up the Sun- 
day night service. He who would main- 
tain constant interest in the Sunday 
night service must preach the Word 
of God with positiveness and, to use 
again the words of Professor Mathews, 
"with the passion of a moral physician 
who knows that sin is a deadly curse 
— ^not a term of the schoolman." He 
must beheve the gospel he preaches and 
preach the gospel he believes. People 
will desire to hear such a man. 

Third. The Sunday night service 
must be preeminently evangelistic. It 
152 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

should be the climax of the week's work. 
All the services of the week should lead 
up to it. There should be in it at all 
times the spirit of invitation. The 
stranger should not only be informed 
that he is welcome, but he should very 
plainly and cordially be given to un- 
derstand that his presence is earnestly 
desired. The reason evangelism in the 
Sunday night service is not more suc- 
cessful is because too frequently the in- 
vitation to accept Christ as a personal 
Saviour from sin is not given with a 
moral urgency that carries with it con- 
viction. If the preacher enters the pul- 
pit more concerned about his own repu- 
tation than for the salvation of men, 
his message will lack both power and 
appeal. People will come to hear the 
man who preaches the gospel without 
frills. The average person who attends 
the Sunday night service does not care 
to hear a discourse on John Ruskin, nor 
an essay on Dante. It is not for the 
purpose of being entertained or amused 
153 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

that he has found his way to the church. 
For entertainment he can go to the 
theater. The average person is hungry 
— hungry for the bread of hfe. He will 
hear with gladness of heart the mes- 
sage of Jesus Christ to a sin-ruined 
world, and he will be satisfied with 
nothing else. Alas for the minister or 
ministry that gives a stone to the hun- 
gry soul that asks for bread! People 
want the gospel — they yearn for the 
Christ of the ages. 

Of all the church services the Sun- 
day night service should be a time when 
the unsaved can most easily find Christ 
as their divine Saviour from sin. An 
occasional invitation to forsake sin and 
accept Christ as a personal Saviour will 
not suffice. There is great gain in not 
only making the people familiar with 
definite appeals to the unsaved, but in 
doing so with such regularity that it 
will become as much a part of the serv- 
ice as praying or singing. Further- 
more, the preacher must come to the 
154 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

place where in giving the invitation he 
will do so in faith believing. Nothing 
so strengthens faith in this kind of serv- 
ice as personal work. He who has 
talked face to face with men during the 
week, presenting Christ as the personal 
Saviour, will find that it is not a diffi- 
cult thing to secure the attendance of 
a goodly number of such persons at the 
Sunday night service. Their very 
presence will be an inspiration to the 
preacher and he will soon discover that 
his appeal to the unsaved is charac- 
terized by an earnestness and tender- 
ness that are well-nigh irresistible. 

Of course the best method for cast- 
ing the net should be studied and em- 
ployed. In doing this great care should 
be exercised to avoid embarrassing those 
who make no profession of Christ. 
Nothing is more unchristian than to 
"set traps" for people. A man may, 
by such method, be caught once, but he 
will see to it that he is not caught the 
second time. 

155 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

The invitation to accept Christ 
should not be given in the same way 
night after night. It is well to vary it. 
Use the altar, the inquiry room, and 
the after meeting. Give the invitation 
by the use of carefully selected hymns. 
Study where and how to use them. Use 
any method that will bring men and 
women to a saving knowledge of Jesus 
Christ. It was not that the man who 
was ''borne of four" was let down 
through a hole in the roof. It might 
just as well have been a hole in the 
wall. The business of the ''four" was 
to get the poor fellow to the feet of the 
Saviour. Whatever be the method, the 
preacher's aim should always be to 
bring about a spiritual crisis in the 
minds and hearts of the unconverted 
and the Sunday night service furnishes 
him his best opportunity. 

A sermon occasionally on some sub- 
ject of vital concern to the community, 
or to the nation, may be perfectly in 
order, and not out of harmony with the 
156 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

plan of continuous evangelism. Fol- 
lowing a sermon on any such subject, 
an invitation to the unsaved to accept 
Christ would be plainly unwise. Such 
sermons will not be so frequent, how- 
ever, as to interfere with the spirit and 
practice of aggressive evangehsm. 

An investigation of the plans and 
methods employed by ministers who are 
having the largest measure of success 
reveals the fact that their Sunday night 
services are almost without exception 
evangelistic. Furthermore, the same 
investigation shows very clearly that 
the preachers themselves have a holy 
passion for the conversion of men and 
women from sin. They believe in the 
importance of the service and have an 
unwavering faith in the gospel they 
preach. 

Several years ago, the Hon. Albert 
J, Beveridge wrote an article for the 
Saturday Evening Post entitled, "The 
Young Man and the Pulpit." In the 
course of the article the author referred 
157 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

to a conversation which he had one day 
with a friend who was a journalist of 
ripe years, highly educated, widely ex- 
perienced, and acquainted with men and 
life. The friend had just returned from 
church, and upon approaching Mr. 
Beveridge, said: "I have just come 
from church and I am tired and disap- 
pointed. I went to hear a sermon and 
I Hstened to a lecture. I went to wor- 
ship and I was merely entertained. The 
preacher was a brilliant man, and his 
address was an intellectual treat, but I 
did not go to church to hear a profes- 
sional lecturer. When I want merely 
to be entertained I will go to the 
theater. But I do not like to hear a 
preacher principally try to be either 
orator or play-actor. I am pleased if 
he is both; but before everything else 
I want him to bear to me the Master's 
message. I want the minister to preach 
Christ and him crucified." This is the 
universal opinion of mankind. The 
world is hungry for the message of our 
158 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

divine Lord and Saviour. It does not 
wish to be argued with or at, but it does 
want to beheve. There is no excuse for 
ministers being "Priests of Ice," vainly 
endeavoring to warm the souls of men. 
They should be flaming heralds of the 
divine truth. 

Fourth. He who really succeeds as 
a "fisher of men" will live so close to 
the Master and will believe so implicitly 
in his power to save that men will see 
in him the Christ. In that relationship 
self will be eliminated and Christ will 
be all in all. 

A few years ago it was my privilege 
to be associated with Gipsy Smith in 
evangelistic services in Seattle, Wash- 
ington. I asked him to tell me some- 
thing about his boyhood life, and he re- 
lated the following incident. He said: 
"You know I was the son of a gipsy 
and was very fond of fishing. I knew 
the streams and I knew the holes in the 
streams where the fish were. My rod 
was a hickory limb ; my fishing line bits 
159 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

of twine tied together, and my hook 
was a pin which I heated in the forge 
and made serve my purpose, I was 
never happier than when I was fishing. 
If the fish did not bite very well, I 
would 'tickle' the stream/' He ex- 
plained that this was simply placing the 
hand in the water and whipping it from 
side to side which would frighten the 
fish up the stream to the particular hole 
where he was sure some of them would 
go. He continued his story, saying: "I 
was fishing on one occasion close to a 
big tree and was having fine luck when 
an EngUsh gentleman, dressed in a 
most wonderful sportsman's suit, ap- 
proached me. His suit had wonderful 
pockets and seemed to be the last word 
in that kind of dress. His rod was of 
fine bamboo with silver mountings and 
he used a silken line. He said to me, 
'My boy, can you tell me where I can 
drop my line and catch fish?' " The 
gipsy said with a twinkle in his eye : "I 
knew there was a big tree about a mile 
160 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

up the stream and I recommended that 
he go up to that tree to fish, for I was 
very anxious to get him away from me." 
After quite a while the man returned 
and was very indignant when he found 
that the gipsy boy had caught a large 
string of fish while he had been unable 
to catch anything. He then explained 
to the gipsy how he had gone to the 
very place to which he had been directed 
and that he had followed his instruc- 
tions to the very letter, saying, "Why 
is it I could catch nothing while you 
have caught this large string of fish 
with your poor rod and hne?" The 
gipsy lad looked up into the face of 
the man and said, "Say, mister, if you 
want to catch fish, you must keep your- 
self out of sight. Fish never will bite 
if they see a thing like you." The same 
principle holds good in fishing for men. 
If the preacher exalts himself above his 
Lord, if he endeavors to impress his 
hearers with his scholarship, his learn- 
ing or his eloquence, rather than with a 
161 



EVANGELISM 

supreme desire to see men and women 
surrender to Jesus Christ, he will mis- 
erably fail. But if the master passion 
of his Hfe be the salvation of the lost, 
then Christ will be exalted and the 
preacher will discover that the Sunday- 
night service offers the greatest oppor- 
tunity for casting the net. 



162 



VI 

SAFEGUARDS OF EVAN- 
GELISM 



VI 

SAFEGUARDS OF EVAN- 
GELISM 

There are three safeguards of evan- 
gelism that are absolutely essential if 
the church is to remain true to her evan- 
gelistic mission. They are the Christian 
home, the Christian school, and the 
Christian ministry. 

The Christian Home 

Cobden said, "The foundation stone 
of national prosperity is the hearth- 
stone." The church, state, and civil 
government, school and hospital, fac- 
tory and workshop, and many other of 
the noblest institutions of the world 
root back into the home. It is, there- 
fore, of the highest importance that 
the home be kept pure and strong and 
true to the highest Christian ideals. 

If it be a fact that in the home our 
165 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

noblest institutions had their beginning, 
then the home must be protected and 
safeguarded with the greatest care. 
There are certain grave perils threat- 
ening the American home to-day which 
if not checked can have but one result 
and that is the dethronement of the 
home. 

The complex organization of society 
is making deep inroads in the home life 
of the American people. Business and 
labor crowd the morning hours, making 
it necessary for the head of the house- 
hold to leave early and to return late. 
The exactions of social life create an 
utterly abnormal condition, rendering 
it almost impossible for the entire 
family ever to be together throughout 
a whole evening. When mothers be- 
come so absorbed in club life that they 
neglect the interest of their children and 
the sacred duties of the family circle, 
they take the very heart out of the 
home. The various substitutes which 
society is offering for the home, such 
166 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

as the lodge and the club, make it more 
and more difficult for the home to re- 
main Christian in the real sense of the 
term. That there is a legitimate place 
for these things is readily admitted, but 
when a man or a woman permits these 
things to interfere with their sacred 
obhgations to the home, they are un- 
true to their trust and become a peril 
to the welfare of society and the nation 
itself. 

More and more is the moving-picture 
theater coming in competition with the 
home. It is now quite the custom to 
turn to the "movie" for the entertain- 
ment of guests. As in the case of the 
club and the lodge, it is readily admitted 
that there is a place for this sort of 
thing. The moving-picture theater is 
here, and it is here to stay. It can be 
made to serve a noble purpose. But 
when the "movie" becomes a substitute 
for the home in the matter of entertain- 
ment, the influence of the home is 
thereby greatly weakened. 
167 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

Sunday is becoming more and more 
a day of playing golf, for automobile 
parties, visiting, and recreation. Al- 
ready it is regarded by vast numbers 
of people as a holiday and not a holy 
day. In all such matters many Chris- 
tian people have become very lax, so 
that he who endeavors to make the home 
a sanctuary and Sunday a day of rest 
and of worship, is regarded either as 
a "queer" individual or a "religious 
crank." To those familiar with modern 
tendencies and conditions this is not 
overdrawn. 

All of these things are having a very 
definite effect upon the Christian home. 
Church attendance has fallen off be- 
cause the church is not exalted in the 
home. The family altar has been 
abandoned to an alarming extent and 
the invoking of the divine blessing at 
the dinner table is heard only when the 
preacher is present as an invited guest. 
It is not too much to say that in multi- 
tudes of Christian homes, if the father 
168 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

or mother were to ask "Grace" at the 
table, the children would sit with open- 
eyed wonder and amazement. That 
home where the Bible is seldom, if ever, 
read in the family circle, where prayer 
is almost never heard, and where con- 
versation on religious topics is un- 
known, cannot have a very pronounced 
Christian atmosphere. When rehgion 
breaks down in the home one of the sure 
bulwarks of evangelism breaks down 
with it. In many of our Christian 
homes there is often an easy and un- 
gracious criticism of the church and the 
ministry. The ministry, although a 
holy calling, is human and by no means 
free from fault. There is a criticism 
that is sympathetic and helpful. It is 
made in the spirit of love and with a 
breaking heart. There is another kind 
of criticism, however, that bears all the 
marks of unfriendliness and even of 
hostility. It is not always intentional, 
and to make this charge against some 
critics of the church would be a shock 
169 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

to them. Nevertheless, there is much 
criticism in the home, both of the churcli 
and of the preacher, that can have but 
one effect on children and young people 
and that is to alienate them not only 
from the church but from religion as 
well. Unkind and unfriendly criticism 
of the church and the ministry is ruin- 
ous to the religious life of the home. 
The Christian home should be a great 
evangelizing center. Christ should be 
exalted in such a natural and yet in 
such a definite manner that the boy and 
girl should be unable to remember a 
time when the Bible was not read and 
when the voice of father or mother was 
not heard in prayer. Our young people 
need to be taught loyalty to the church, 
respect for the ministry and devotion 
to the ideals and teachings of Jesus 
Christ if our homes are to furnish re- 
cruits for the ministry and mission field. 
There is a duty resting upon the 
church and the ministry in relation to 
the home that cannot be overlooked. I 
170 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

refer to the kind of evangelism to which 
the church gives its sanction and ap- 
proval. If the home is to back up and 
support evangelism, preachers and 
churches must see to it that the evan- 
gelism employed is both sane and safe. 
The Christian Church simply must set 
herself steadfastly against those evan- 
gelistic movements, the chief purpose 
of which is to enrich the "professional 
evangelist" under whose leadership the 
"campaign" is conducted. There is too 
much wild-fire evangehsm for the 
church to be careless at this point. 
Large numbers of free-lance evan- 
gelists roam over the country building 
up personal fortunes at the expense of 
the church. Many of them would com- 
mand very small salaries in the pas- 
torate. They are cheap imitators of 
those men who are really called of God 
to be evangehsts and who do accom- 
plish a great work. They are usually 
extremists, who pride themselves on 
their vulgarity and who boast of the 
171 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

unusual, undignified, and unbecoming 
methods employed by them for "getting 
the crowd." These are they who bring 
the fair name of the church into dis- 
repute and cause the sinful and godless 
to scorn the profession of Christian 
people. 

The church must safeguard this 
point, and in so doing will make a more 
convincing appeal for the support of 
evangelism in the home. Thank God 
for the rich contribution the Christian 
home has made and is still making in 
supplying young men and women for 
the ministry, mission field, and for 
various other lines of Christian service. 
Furthermore, it should be remembered 
that during the past quarter of a cen- 
tury had it not been for the gifts of sons 
and daughters to the ministry and mis- 
sion field made by parsonage homes, the 
church would again and again have 
been in a most sorry plight. It would 
be well if there might sweep over the 
church a revival of the reading of "The 
172 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Cotter's Saturday Night," by Robert 
Burns. To read again that great poem, 
would give a new appreciation of the 
Christian home. It exalts the home and 
tells so wonderfully of the place that 
love and faith and prayer and God must 
have in it if it is to be indeed Christian. 
The cotter's prayer is sublime. He sees 
the family circle unbroken. As yet it 
is unstained by sin, and the cry of his 
heart is that it may ever be so. 

"Then kneeling down to Heaven's Eternal 
King, 
The saint, the father, and the husband 
prays : 
Hope ^springs exulting on triumphant 
wing,' 
That thus they all shall meet in future 

days: 
There ever bask in uncreated rays, 
No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear. 

Together hymning their Creator's praise. 
In such society, yet still more dear; 
While circling Time moves round in an 
eternal sphere." 
173 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

It has been well said — "God at the fire- 
side is the guarantee of a nation^s glory 
and permanence/' and it might well be 
added the glory and permanence also 
of the Church of Christ. 

Let the family altar be rebuilt, let 
the Bible be read in the family circle, 
let reverence for the church and the 
ministry be instilled, by precept and ex- 
ample, in the minds of the young, and 
in less than a generation the Christian 
home will become a bulwark of evan- 
gelism in the highest sense of the term, 
and young men and women in increas- 
ingly large numbers will offer them- 
selves for definite Christian service. 

The Christian School 

The next outstanding safeguard of 
evangehsm is the Christian school. 

History reveals the fact that the 
church has always been the conservator 
of education. The learning of Greece 
and Rome was preserved by the insti- 
tution of the Christian Church. The 
174 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

reason for the establishment of colleges 
and universities in Europe and America 
was that the church might be furnished 
with adequate leadership. The leading 
institutions of learning of both of these 
countries owe their very existence to 
the Christian Church. The history of 
the American college is most interest- 
ing. It divides itself into three distinct 
periods. The first begins with the foun- 
dation of Harvard College in 1636 and 
closes with the opening of the Revolu- 
tionary War; the second begins with 
the close of the Revolutionary War and 
continues through the first quarter of 
the last century; and the third dates 
from that period to the present time. 
These periods, or divisions, which mark 
the development of the American col- 
lege have been called the Ecclesiastical, 
the Political, and the Human, and in- 
dicate the source whence certain of the 
stronger influences of each period arose. 
The famous ordinance of 1787 for 
the organization of the Northwest Ter- 
175 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

ritory used the expression: ''Religion, 
morality, and knowledge being essen- 
tial to good government, schools and 
the means of education shall forever 
be encouraged." This statement has 
been quoted as the most advanced in 
time in relation to human progress. 
We have passed far beyond that posi- 
tion to-day, however, for we now insist 
that education shall be provided for 
every one of school age. Furthermore, 
we insist that all of school age shall be 
educated. 

During the development of the 
American college its influence has been 
greatly enlarged. Although it began 
as an institution for the training of 
ministers of the gospel chiefly, its pur- 
pose has so broadened that to-day its 
aim is to train men and women for a 
well-rounded and full-orbed life. It 
now seeks to train men not only for the 
various professions and specialized 
forms of service, but for hfe in every 
sphere of activity. That it has entered 
176 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

into the intellectual life of the people 
may be seen when we recall the fact that 
it has helped to train not only sixty 
per cent of America's leading preach- 
ers, but that it has aided in the train- 
ing of one third of our statesmen, more 
than a third of our best authors, almost 
fifty per cent of our leading physicians, 
fully one half of our better-known 
lawyers, and considerably more than 
one half of our most conspicuous edu- 
cators. 

In the fifty years in the middle of 
the last century more than sixteen thou- 
sand men graduated from eight princi- 
pal colleges of New England, of which 
nuumber more than four thousand be- 
came ministers. No one will question 
the importance of such a contribution 
to society and the world. Unfortu- 
nately, few men graduating from these 
same institutions to-day choose the 
Christian ministry as their lifework. 
More unfortunate still is the fact that 
in a number of these colleges and uni- 
177 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

versities religion is given very slight 
recognition. 

The growth and development of 
State universities during the past fif- 
teen or twenty years has been nothing 
less than phenomenal, and they are as- 
suming increasing jurisdiction over 
many of the private schools and are 
giving more and more attention to in- 
dustrial and technical education. It is 
a significant fact that there are more 
Methodist students in State universities 
than there are in all the schools sup- 
ported by the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. These State schools are sup- 
ported by the taxing of the people. 
This is right and necessary. The ques- 
tion arises, however, as to what should 
be the attitude of the church toward 
State universities. I reply unhesitat- 
ingly that it should be both friendly and 
sincere. There is no reason why the 
denominational college and the State 
university should not be on the best of 
terms. 

178 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

President Guy Potter Benton, of the 
University of Vermont, has well said: 
"We all want to be loyal to our own 
Methodist colleges, but the fact remains 
that there are more Methodist students 
in the State universities than there are 
in all the schools supported by the 
church. . . . Therefore, unless the reli- 
gious interests of these young people 
are carefully safeguarded and directed, 
there may not only be a loss to the 
church but one to society as well." 
Many of the Protestant churches are 
giving commendable attention to the 
very question mentioned by President 
Benton, and the Methodist Episcopal 
Church is now studying that problem 
very carefully in relation to her own 
students. More and more the church 
must feel its responsibility for the reli- 
gious welfare of her students who are 
in State universities. 

Fully appreciating the worth and 
value of the State university to the wel- 
fare of society, we cannot overlook the 
179 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

fact that religion has a hard time of it 
in such institutions. As a rule, the 
atmosphere of our State universities is 
anything but Christian. While we do 
find members of the faculties who are 
devoted Christians and loyal to the 
things for which the Christian Church 
stands, it must be admitted that their 
numbers are comparatively few. 

A Hindoo student in one of the great 
State universities of America once said 
to me, ''This university is as unchris- 
tian as the one I attended in India be- 
fore coming to this country." He may 
not have been fair in his judgment. 
He may have misrepresented the real 
situation, but, nevertheless, his remark 
is significant. 

In Germany we have had a shining 
example of what may come to the world 
through a false system of teaching. 
Whatever historians may assign as the 
real cause of the great world war, 
whether it be the brusqueness of the 
Austro-German diplomacy, which 
180 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

''snapped the strained relation between 
the Alhance and the Entente," or 
whether there shall be mentioned the in- 
fluence of powerful economic interests 
which either led to international quar- 
rels, or stood to make great gains by 
the war, one thing is certain — the de- 
structive influence of the German ideal- 
istic school will not be omitted. If war 
is to be avoided in the future, our 
schools and universities must avoid 
those metaphysics from which war pro- 
ceeds. 

The present tendency is to ignore 
religion in modern education. Some 
time ago there appeared in the Zion's 
Herald an article containing the results 
of certain investigations made by Pro- 
fessor James Henry Leuba, of Bryn 
Mawr College. These investigations 
revealed the fact that of the more emi- 
nent among the teachers of the youth 
of America only twenty-seven per cent 
believe in the existence of God, and but 
thirty-five per cent believe in the im- 
181 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

mortality of the soul. If this is even 
approximately correct, it is enough to 
make the light heart sad and the stout- 
est quake with fear. For years many 
of the most eminent teachers in Ger- 
many denied the fundamentals of reli- 
gion. The result was the spiritual hfe 
of the people was stifled, the false phi- 
losophies of the German schools were 
accepted, and the disaster that has 
drenched Europe in blood became in- 
evitable. 

At the World Missionary Confer- 
ence, held in Edinburgh in 1910, Pro- 
fessor M. E. Saddler, one of the great- 
est educational authorities, said, "The 
educational science of Europe and 
America has paid far too little heed to 
the experience of the mission field." 
In referring to the contribution that 
educational missions make to the pres- 
ent problem of the West, where educa- 
tion is becoming more and more organ- 
ized, and dependent on public money, 
he said, "How are we to preserve for it, 
182 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

amid all the conflicts of belief, the power 
of a spiritual ideal, without which no 
education can do that which we here feel 
to be its prime and its most lasting 
work." This great educationist further 
said, "The great danger of the highly 
organized systems of modern education 
in Europe is that, being by far intellec- 
tual, they lead to moral skepticism/' 
Although these words were spoken a 
decade ago, they are full of meaning 
and importance for to-day and apply 
not only to Europe but equally so to 
America. 

Recently in Japan one of the lead- 
ing ofiicials of that country and one of 
the effective promoters of modern edu- 
cation in Japan, said, "We have abeady 
passed beyond the realm of religion; 
all religion is superstition, and by 
adopting modern education we lay 
asid^ our old superstitions; we rise 
above religion in education." If Pro- 
fessor Leuba's survey reveals the real 
situation among America's leading 
183 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

teachers, we may well ponder the future 
of our nation unless the present tend- 
ency is counteracted by distinctively 
Christian influences. The task of the 
Christian Church is not lightly to be 
estimated under these conditions. Here 
is the reason for the Christian school 
and college and here is the task. Reli- 
gion must be given a very definite place 
in modern education, and only the 
Christian college can do it. 

It is worthy of notice that the 
churches which have been most influ- 
ential in the development of American 
life have been those which have placed 
great emphasis upon the worth of a col- 
lege-bred ministry. The founder of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church w^as a uni- 
versity man, and that church has al- 
ways been the champion of the Chris- 
tian school and college. It is a very 
significant fact that her influence has 
increased very largely in proportion as 
she has had a well developed system of 
schools and colleges. She is second to 
184 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

none of the great denominations in her 
emphasis upon Christian education. 

In endeavoring to fulfill her mission 
the Methodist Episcopal Church must 
see to it that her institutions of learning 
shall be kept Christian. There is no 
denying the fact that during the past 
quarter of a century the educational 
system of America has felt the blight of 
German rationalism. Large numbers 
of our most eminent scholars have gone 
to Germany to pursue their studies and 
for research purposes. They have re- 
turned in many instances thoroughly 
committed to the German school of de- 
structive criticism. The entire educa- 
tional system of America has felt the 
effect of this, and the denominational 
schools have by no means escaped. Not 
infrequently has it been true that teach- 
ers have been employed in Christian in- 
stitutions of learning who have made 
no profession of religion at all, others 
have been merely nominally Christian, 
while still others have exerted an influ- 
185 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

ence over students that has been utterly 
destructive of faith. It is nothing less 
than a betrayal of trust, for Christian 
institutions of learning to employ as 
teachers those who are opposed to, or 
unsympathetic with, Christian teaching 
and doctrine. Christian schools and 
colleges must give careful attention to 
the matter of rehgion in education, and 
how can this be done unless the teachers 
themselves are Christian? 

There never was a time when 
America needed Christian schools and 
colleges more than now. It is of the 
utmost importance that care be given 
to the selection of teachers and profes- 
sors. No one who is not a behever in 
God and in Jesus Christ our Lord, and 
no one who is not sure of his beliefs, 
should have a place upon a faculty of 
any really Christian institution of 
learning. This has not always been the 
case, nor is it at the present time. Noth- 
ing is more important from the stand- 
point of a sane and safe evangehsm than 
186 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

that our institutions of learning be kept 
Christian, and this cannot be done un- 
less the teachers are definitely Chris- 
tian. 

The Christian college has been the 
conservator of religious life and 
thought, and has also saved the church 
from certain fanatical extremes in reh- 
gion, which otherwise would have 
brought the church into merited con- 
tempt. Too much cannot be said in 
praise of what the Christian college has 
done for the Christian ministry. For 
years the church has been dependent 
upon the denominational college for 
her ministers and missionaries. In the 
future she will be more dependent upon 
the Christian college for her leaders 
than she ever has been in the past. 

In the remaking of the world, the 
church school must be given an increas- 
ingly large place, but it must be kept 
positively and potently Christian. It 
is a safeguard of evangelism. It is the 
handmaiden of the church; it is the re- 
187 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

cruiting station for leadership that will 
hasten the conquest of the world for 
Christ. 

The Christian Ministry 

There is yet another safeguard of 
evangelism, and that is the ministry it- 
self. 

War tests all things. The recent 
world war tested the Christian ministry 
as severely, if not more severely, than 
anything else. The result will surely 
be a stronger, purer, and more sacri- 
ficial ministry. In the very nature of 
the case it cannot be otherwise. 

It is generally admitted that the 
Christian Church is not as evangelistic 
as it once was. Large numbers of 
preachers of all the churches have lost 
their relish for evangelism. The char- 
acter of their preaching and the manner 
in which they go about the King's busi- 
ness furnish ample proof of the correct- 
ness of this statement. The vast sums 
of money invested by the Christian 
188 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

Church for the salvation of the world 
is in striking contrast to the number 
of converts and accessions reported by 
the churches from year to year. It is 
a significant fact that the church has 
made her greatest gains in recent years 
in foreign mission fields where evan- 
gelism is most pronounced. No 
thoughtful person can fail to appreci- 
ate or be thankful for the great social 
awakening of the church. Her philan- 
thropic, educational, and benevolent 
undertakings command the highest ad- 
miration of all thoughtful people. 
When, however, we study the growth 
of the Christian Church, during the past 
decade, as reported in the year books 
of the various denominations, there is 
nothing to boast of, but, rather, every 
reason for humiliation and contrition 
of heart. 

Much of modern preaching lacks pas- 
sion. Platitudes and stereotyped 
phrases that are hoary with age and 
empty of meaning will not sufiice to 
189 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

bring conviction for sin to the mind and 
heart of the modern man. 

The chief reason why the Christian 
Church, especially that of America, 
does not possess more evangelistic zeal 
than it does to-day is because of the 
influence German rationahsm has had 
upon it. No effort has been spared by 
the German school to rule the super- 
natural Christ out of court. There is 
no denying the fact that this school has 
set itself against the truth as revealed 
in the Scriptures of a truly super- 
natural divine Christ. Similar efforts 
have also been made to rob the Bible 
of the supernatural, making it merely 
a collection of tradition and folklore. 
So widespread was the influence of 
the German school of thought that 
not only Europe felt the blight of 
it but America also. History contains 
no more subtle propaganda against the 
Christian faith than this. It has found 
its way into the religious hterature of 
all Christian lands and of all Christian 
190 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

churches. The effect has been a very 
noticeable drift toward Unitarianism 
in certain sections of the church. For 
years American books, newspapers, and 
magazines have carried the message 
that only a humanitarian Christ can 
satisfy the demands of the modern in- 
tellect. This explains why the church 
has lost her relish for evangelism. 
There can be no other result. When 
the ministry loses its vital grip on the 
deityship of Jesus Christ and upon the 
Bible as the inspired Word of God, 
there can be no such thing as a passion 
for souls. The very heart of evangel- 
ism is the deityship of Jesus Christ. 
When that is doubted or denied, evan- 
gelism is gone. 

If the Christian ministry is to retain 
its apostolic enthusiasm for the con- 
version of men and women from sin, 
her theological schools must be great 
centers of evangelistic power and pas- 
sion. We do not disparage scholarship. 
We dare not shrink from scientific in- 
191 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

vestigation. Theological students must 
be made familiar with modern life and 
thought. This is not to be accom- 
plished, however, at the expense of a 
definite and genuine faith in Jesus 
Christ as a personal Saviour. It is not 
to be brought about by the abandon- 
ment of a holy enthusiasm for the spirit- 
ual regeneration of a sinful world. If 
the Christian ministry of the future is 
to be evangelistic, the teaching in the 
schools of the prophets must be positive 
in character. Classroom instruction 
must bring the student face to face with 
scientific thought and achievement, but 
never at the sacrifice of those things 
which are fundamental to the Christian 
faith. 

With the collapse of the German em- 
pire there must also go Germany's 
leadership and domination of the in- 
tellectual and religious life of the world. 
The failure of the German educational 
system will be followed by a new inter- 
est in the study of the Bible as the 
192 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

revealed Word of God. The new text- 
ual criticism will be both scholarly and 
reverent, and there will not be charged 
against it a purposeful endeavor to de- 
stroy the foundations of the Christian 
faith. 

Our theological schools must prepare 
the future ministers of the church for 
the great task of remaking the world. 
To that end they must strengthen the 
faith of the students and not weaken it. 
The integrity of the Scriptures must be 
insisted upon and not questioned. Jesus 
Christ, the divine Son of God, must be 
exalted in all the relationships of life 
with a moral urgency that will carry 
with it no shadow of doubt. 

Furthermore, if evangelism is to be 
retained in the new day, it will be at 
the point where the candidate for the 
ministry enters into the full obligations 
and privileges of his holy calling. This 
is positively vital. No man should be 
admitted into the ministry of any Chris- 
tian church who does not do so accept- 
193 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

ing fully and freely the doctrinal stand- 
ards of the church he seeks to enter. 

Where there are courses of study, as 
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
which the candidate for the ministry is 
required to pass before being admitted, 
it is of the utmost importance that the 
books be selected with the greatest care. 
Any book that is at variance with the 
accepted doctrines and teachings of the 
church should be eliminated. The 
Methodist Episcopal Church would do 
well to safeguard her sacred interests 
at this point. 

An intelhgent and broad-minded 
world traveler once said to the writer, 
"Methodism in some quarters is show- 
ing a marked tendency toward Uni- 
tarianism." When challenged to pro- 
duce proof of such a statement he said, 
"Analyze carefully the literature your 
church is producing and you will find 
ample proof of what I say." I am con- 
vinced that the gentleman's statement 
is not wholly correct. I wish it were 
194 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

wholly wrong. The Conference course 
of study was never intended to take the 
place of a college course. Its chief pur- 
pose is not that of furnishing an edu- 
cation, but, rather, of ascertaining 
whether or not the candidate is suffi- 
ciently familiar with the doctrines and 
polity of the church to warrant his being 
intrusted with the sacred obligations 
and privileges of the ministry. If the 
doctrinal standards of Methodism are 
not safeguarded in the Conference 
course of study to-day, it will not be 
more than a generation before Meth- 
odism will have lost her power as an 
evangelizing agency. For the welfare 
of the church of the future we must 
safeguard the evangelism of the church 
of to-day. 

What was it that brought the remedy 
for the unbelief and spiritual evils in 
the latter part of the Reformation 
period? It was not scholarship and it 
was not science. The Church of Christ 
was the victim of the basest kind of 
195 



EVANGELISM IN THE 

political influences and was herself 
guilty of the most unspeakable vices. 
When apostohc simpUcity gave way 
and wealth began to pour into the lap 
of the church, when priests began to 
taste the sweets of luxurious hving and 
of power, faith gave way to unbeKef 
and moral decline set in irresistibly. 
That which brought rehef was the faith- 
ful proclamation of the Uving gospel of 
the grace of God by Luther and his 
fellow reformers. 

"What rescued the church from the 
torpor and death of the negative of the 
eighteenth century?" asks Professor 
James Orr. His answer to his own 
question is: "The dehverance came, not 
from philosophy or learning, not even 
from the works of able apologists hke 
Butler, but from the tides of the spirit- 
ual revival that swept over Britain, and 
were felt in other lands, under the 
preaching of such men as Whitefield 
and the Wesley s. This it was which 
gave evangehsm the victory once more 
196 



REMAKING OF THE WORLD 

over indifference and unbelief, and 
breathed the new breath of life into so- 
ciety, which introduced the era of mis- 
sions to the heathen, Bible diffusion, 
home evangehsm, and the innumerable 
social reforms of the last century. It 
is to a like outpouring of the Spirit of 
God upon his church, and to the same 
divine energy manifesting itself in holy 
lives and practical works far more than 
to learned confutations, however valu- 
able these may be in their place, that 
we must look for the overthrow of the 
forms of unbeUef that lift up their 
heads among us to-day. The owls van- 
ish when the daylight reappears.'* 

If the demands of the new day are to 
be met, the church must cultivate, with- 
out cant and hypocrisy, the passion for 
souls that characterized the early chm-ch 
and made Christ and his saving grace a 
reality in the hearts of men. The Chris- 
tian home, the Christian school, the 
Christian ministry — ^these three are the 
safeguards of evangelism. 
197 



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